I'm a buyer of lease-to-own, an abandoner of leases and a seller with lease-to-own. I think lease-to-own is an interesting model that has a lot of value but sellers should not look at it as a simple split payment arrangement. A lease-to-own purchase is not equivalent to an outright purchase.
As an end-user, lease-to-own is a great way to de-risk a purchase and avoid tying up capital that could be better used elsewhere: if I regret the purchase, I can cancel the lease. I have bought domains on lease-to-own even though I wasn't sure I would complete the lease.
As an investor, lease-to-own can be a great way to buy an option on a domain name. For example, if I find a domain that I believe is undervalued with a Buy It Now of $10k with a 24 month lease-to-own option, I can "buy" an "option" to sell the domain at just $10,000 / 24 = $416 per month. I might spend 3 months on aggressive outbound (at a cost of $416 * 3 = $1,248) and not secure a sale, in which case, I cancel the lease (better to lose $1,248 than be stuck with a $10k domain). If I secure a sale, great, I buy out the lease and profit.
As a seller, lease-to-own is a great no-effort no-risk way to offer seller financing to end users, an option that is coveted in other areas of business. Seller financing broadens the number of potential buyers. A startup cannot get a $100k loan from a bank to buy a domain name, but a startup could spend $1k/month on a domain. If you do not offer lease to own, you're limiting yourself to buyers that can finance the acquisition themselves.
As a seller, lease-to-own is bad if an investor is using it to "buy" an "option" on your domain. The Atom down payment model is good for preventing this. As a seller, I don't mind much if an investor does this, because I would only list a domain for sale with a Buy It Now if I was already confident that I've exhausted the outbound options, and, if they manage to make a profit, so be it, I'm still getting my list price. I learn a lesson for the future.
Personally, if a buyer defaulted on a lease and then contacted me to rescue the lease, I would always resume the lease, I would not see it as a great way to make some extra money off the buyer's stress, and so I think people who try to accommodate buyers (as
@bmugford described above) are doing the right thing.
I like lease-to-own but it does require a nuanced view. My list lease-to-own prices + lengths are based on the worst-case scenario (the buyer will make one payment, do a bunch of outbound and then surrender the lease) but for an end-user I would happily be very flexible.