If I have a user who does not have permission to view the layouts in a folder. Is there a way to remove the folder from view. The user does not see the layouts inside the folder but does see the folder. The user then wants access to what's in the folder because he/she sees the folder. It would be nice to have the folder not visible if the contents are not accessible to the user. Thanks

Just use one folder (at least for this option). You can control which items show in the folder. So inside folder "Reports" one user will see Report 1, Report 2, Report 3. The other user will see Report 1, Report 4.

Is there a solution to: I do not want the user to see the "reports" folder in their layouts list.

Create a simple report that he can see so the folder won't be empty.

Is there a solution to: I do not want the user to see the "reports" folder in their layouts list.

?? We've already covered that. No.