It seems like you'd see the same kinds of problems with this as you would with predatory lending: even if the cost of a loan (or renting in this case) were much

It seems like you'd see the same kinds of problems with this as you would with predatory lending: even if the cost of a loan (or renting in this case) were much higher in even the medium term, if you're poor enough, it still makes sense because the alternative is not having enough money to live on, right now. Loans and renting are IMO potentially the same thing in this context. It seems to me there's a fairly straightforward regulatory solution to this issue: require tighter financial checks, or reduce the protections given lenders in case of default.