I think that as long as there is a Lease Option written into the contract that legally forces the owner to sell (or if it's a lease-purchase), and as long as there is some guarantee on the down payment amount if the seller breaks the contract, I'm mostly fine with Rent-to-Own. But R2O contracts are something you probably want a lawyer to double-check, because there are ways you can get screwed as the buyer (like if you lose your job prior to sale, and it's a Lease Purchase, they might charge you a LOT of money to break the contract).