With more and more renters feeling the affordability crunch, there seemed to be some light on the horizon recently with the steady rise in rents appearing to finally slow down over the last few months. Nevermind. As it turns out, rents are still going up and just hit an all-time high, again.

Divvy Homes, a real estate startup aiming to revolutionize rent-to-own and fractional ownership, just raised $30 million to help the company continue growing. Divvy officially launched earlier this year with $7 million in funding. But now, the company has $30 million more at its disposal.

The New York Department of Financial Services revealed Monday that it is currently investigating whether alternative home purchase agreements, such as rent-to-own, lease-to-own or land installment contracts, currently being offered in New York are actually “unlicensed, predatory mortgage lending.”

While rent-to-own is not a new concept in the housing market, a new real estate company is set to launch that aims to rebrand renting to own into a buyer-friendly proposition. Divvy Homes, which soft-launched two months ago, claims that its program offers consumers the flexibility of renting with the financial benefits of homeownership, all with the prospective homeowner in mind.

A Wisconsin state court effectively ended rent-to-own operator Vision Property Management’s ability to operate in the state, as the company’s battle with the state continues. Back in June, the Wisconsin Department of Justice sued VPM and its various affiliates for using “misleading and deceiving business practices to induce Wisconsin consumers to lease, rent, or purchase uninhabitable properties.”

The Wisconsin Department of Justice announced Monday that the state is suing Vision Property Management and its various affiliates for using “misleading and deceiving business practices to induce Wisconsin consumers to lease, rent, or purchase uninhabitable properties.” The lawsuit claims that VPM targeted low income consumers with predatory rent-to-own offers on “dilapidated” homes.

A recent report from Moody's highlighted the benefits for consumers and investors that stem from Home Partners of America’s rent-to-own program, but a new report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency throws a wet blanket onto anyone who posited that rent-to-own could be the “future of housing.”

With rising rents making it more difficult for many to even save the 3% down payment they’d now need to buy a home, a new option is emerging as an avenue for consumers to live in the home they want and save money to buy it at the same time – rent-to-own.

Rent-to-own programs are once again increasing in popularity after losing steam back in the 1990s. One perk of the program that’s appealing to consumers is that they aren’t forced to purchase the home.