Nadia,If you buy homes in the lower range of CA prices ($150,000 - 250,000) and you offer your tenants a rent-to-own contract, then you would only be collecting rent which may not conflict with religious rules against interest.If you offer the prospective tenant an option to buy the house within a fixed time period (usually 2 - 7 years), then the tenant will have more incentive to take good care of the house.

In addition, you may have bankruptcy risk which would stay any of your collection attempts.

Fast forward to May, 2016, we're actively collecting information from others who have had the misfortune of investing with Yancey Events, with the intention of filing a class action suit.  

I am hoping to go to closing and collect payment.

Collect their application fees and screen them against your written criteria.

You are correct in saying you can be sued for any amount but they cannot collect what you don't have.

Was hearing it is hard to collect on the 12 year late in the game.

Even if you decided to go ahead with it, you'd most likely be in violation of state law, as at most you can collect, 1st, and last, or month & 1/2 and last. once they've occupied they could simply take you to court and get the excess refunded,and the judge may take the opportunity to make an example out of you, they will not care who's idea it was originally.

Since you can't disciminate based on "source of income", I think that requiring employment would violate that.One thing that I like to see is if they're collectable.

They only want to collect the hefty penalties of 12-18% from the late tax payers as a way of getting high returns on low risk investments.