Rent-to-own, or rent-to-get-the-shaft?

I am not a big fan of rent-to-own or lease purchase agreements on houses. Too many of them turn out poorly.

For example,I just returned from doing an inspection for a bank in connection with a short sale request. It is a house in Brandt's Landing in Nampa. There are tenants in the home that have lived there for about 4.5 years, stating they have never been late on a payment. They rented the house under a lease to purchase agreement where 1/3 of the rental amount was to be applied toward their purchase of the home. Not only can that not happen now, but the landlord told them he no longer has the deposit they had paid either. In addition, he has not paid the irrigation water and it was shut off so the tenants, rather than let the grass die, are paying and using city water to irrigate.  Certainly sounds like some folks are getting the shaft!