You're buying the junk vinyl plank. If it's less than $3/sqft it will be junk. Lifeproof, ridged core, waterproof. Do not buy anything with any type of wood in them.
That was a bad install. I had some relatively inexpensive traffic master ultra (vinyl click lock plank) from home depot installed in a retail store on a slab for two years. The store flooded once. When we lost our lease, I took up that floor and had it reinstalled over a slab in a rental and it still looks great today at six years old.
Rules say that floating floors of all types need a gap at and around edges to allow for expansion.
There is a snap and lock system out there, but I have not used it. Still, they want that gap.
Problem with that gap, is that the floor will move. It just will! I don't install my floors per manufacturer reccomendations, but that because I don't like seeing those gaps, and blaming it on manufacturer reccomendations.
I am waiting for floors to buckle vs split at the seams. So far, so good.
Vinyl products are of the glue-down, peel and stick, and floating systems.
Vinyl shrinks and grows with temperatures as they fluctuate. It's the nature of the animal.
So, your cost savings might be better realized in a luxury wood or composite floor. Hard to grasp for a "rental", I know.
Bedrooms? Vinyl roll flooring as a single piece, if carpet is not for you. Best thing about Vinyl, is that in 5 or 8 years when you change things, you can place flooring over it.
There is no magic product, other than the floors nailed and glued to last forever!
Pay for a great and lasting job once, or try to get that warranty to work for you when that supplier is out of business.
Good luck, I like Red Oak in living areas, Maple in higher class homes, and carpet in the bedrooms.