I would have denied based on income and would not have looked at their application any further to see the criminal stuff. 

The only time I tried to refi the appraisals were literally criminal, but that's a different rant.  

They will verify a persons identity, the background check with show clear for the different offenses or show the criminal offenses they have.

You can also go to the city or county websites and search for civil cases and sometimes even criminal cases online.Have fun!

Another option is looking to see if Chicago has an Apartment Association (assuming they do).When I started in real estate my local Apartment Association, as a perk for paying around $75 a year membership, not only provided me with a lease created to adhere to local laws (it's a really good lease), along with paperwork for other things as well (notices, eviction paperwork, lease renewals, etc.) but they also provide low-cost credit and criminal checks so when I screen a potential tenant it only costs me $13 for state and $18 for federal. 

That should show criminal activity and eviction history in state.

You know how to get quick credit when you need it and I suspect we're all in the position of knowing some local people who have been in this business longer than us who are mostly in the business of quiet and quick private lending on the downlow these days.Of course, as @Jay Hinrichs points out, you had better be extremely conservative with your debt as well, understand that running cheap properties as a get-rich-quick scheme never works out for anyone but criminals.

Just tell him that you are denying him based on his criminal record that you just became aware of. 

Existing situations are less likely to be reported because it has been that way for a long time.Jail is pretty extreme for a consequence, but if someone gets harmed, you could be held responsible for criminal negligence.

There's no point in running a credit/criminal on someone when you don't even have their ID card to prove they are the person on the application.By the way, at least 10% of all my applicants pay the fee (which is non-refundable) but then never submit the documentation.