I asked my attorney and he "While the churches are exempt from taxes they are not exempt from water bill or city citations." 

If you don't have a written lease from the purchase I'd check out your local and state agencies for advice on what the law is in the state in addition to consulting with an attorney.For example, where I am (St Louis, MO) the city has a "landlord's guide"https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/...which includes things like sample applications, information on the eviction process, and citations to the state landlord tenant law.The Attorney General puts out a state guide on Landlord Tenant lawhttps://www.ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/publica... though an attorney would be the most helpful when it comes to knowing what paper trail you need to create.  

It all depends on your budget and your market.Another way is to contact owners with citations against property or that are delinquent in property taxes.

"The IRS discussed the issue in PLR 9840026 (some citations omitted): The rental of even a single property may constitute a trade or business under various provisions of the Code.

Don't forget to consider things like HOA fees, state income taxes, child support, Medicaid, code violation citations, municipal liens ...

Third, I would let the guy know that stealing utilities is a crime (everywhere I know of in the US) and any further attempt at doing so you will simply contact the utility company, who can get a citation or arrest issued to the guy. 

The cities can issue all the citations they would like but they have little real power to force compliance.

So, in Phila, when the property taxes go unpaid there is a high likelihood of other liens, particularly for water/sewer and natural gas; since it's a board up, they might have code citations, and they might not have a vacant property license as required by Phila!  

I am generally a big advocate of "driving for dollars"  - for those who don't know - it simply mean driving around looking for distressed houses that owners may be willing to sell - typical giveaways are boarded up houses, unkempt yards, citation notices on doors and the like.  

I get that you are busy but if you are going to cite references, they should be accurate citations, IMHO.