Questions regarding when to refinance and tax protests

[Rich Terasaki]

Good evening all. I took the plunge into REI about a year and a half ago, and recently purchased on contract my 6th SFH. This one certainly took me out of my comfort zone as I follow the BRRRR method. Currently two of the homes I have completed the cash-out refi which allowed the purchase of homes 3-5. Homes 3-4-5 have all been paid in cash, however tenants in 3 and 4 are not paying at this time due to Covid-19's impact on their employment. As stated above, I was able to do an owner-financed deal during the time I was rehabbing house #5. Funny side story is that I actually put an offer on it before getting house #5, but the sellers didn't even entertain the offer. One night I was speaking to one of my daughter's friends who stated her parents were trying to sell their rental property. After some inquiring, I discovered it actually was the house I made the offer on, but because I didn't hear anything, I went on to purchase #5. They are friends of the family and we were able to negotiate a seller financed deal with the balloon payment due next August, a low interest rate, and reasonable monthly payment until then. So here are the questions:

1. Should I still do a cash-out refi on homes 3 and/or 4 even though the tenants are not paying? The leases are up in February and April respectively, but not sure what will happen beyond that in terms of not renewing the lease (I'm letting my PM take care of it all). I'm not comfortable with entering into a debt service homes that are not producing income, and for which I have effectively become an entity that is subsidizing someone's housing needs (this is the learning curve for me).

2. The property taxes are higher than normal for house #6 because they have not been protest in many years (Illinois, shocker-right?). However, since I don't technically own it, can I submit the protest - or do the couple that are still on the title do? He's also an attorney and doesn't know the nuances to who needs to file. I have called down to the county and left a message, but have not heard back with an answer to this question. Hoping someone has had a similar experiences and can shed some light as to what can/cannot be done and by whom.

Thanks in advance..