Hi,Since this is where I first learned about investing in real estate I thought i'd come here first. 

No, this is illegal in most states. 

My practice area ties heavily into the real estate industry and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on ways to build my referral network both in law and real estate as I plan to do some heavy real estate investing in the near future. 

Or mean to this tenant?

If you use this setup you will be turning passive rental income into active income which means you will pay higher taxes. 

Recently I've been trying to get into real estate by wholesaling so then I could get some experience but when I skip trace nobody will answer the phone!

This is allowed in CT.When Do Landlords Have To Return Security Deposits?

Nothing wrong with retail employees (I spent some time in the retail trenches like most everyone), but they likely wont have this knowledge. 

I looked into possibly obtaining loan and they required 1% of loan amount for a pre-approval letter and no fund of the 1% fee.

In this last year, their communication with me has become almost silent.