I'm sure there are several factors to discuss with a lawyer. 

After you pay a lawyer to fight the lawyer they get for free as the poor disadvantaged renter.  

If it was me I would give them the 1000 and have your lawyer write a release of all claims as to the water.. and probably not renew unless other wise they are great tenants.. but if your already asking for pre signed checks sounds like collections maybe an issue as well.

i am planning on talking to real estate lawyer and real estate cpa but wanted to see if there were any thoughts from the forum. thanks!

I am talking to a lawyer to outline our plan tomorrow so we execute legally, but there doesn't seem to be any information available explaining how people are pulling this off.

Of course, *I’m not a lawyer* and local/ state laws may vary.

That being said, the idea of putting each property in a separate LLC is arduous and I think (in my non-lawyer opinion) unnecessary.

I'm guessing the reason they get away with this is because they know how expensive it is to hire a lawyer to get rid of them.

In my opinion lawyers are going to end up taking/earning all the equity for the guys to get out of the deal.

I’d also love to connect with a knowledgeable real estate CPA as well as a lawyer in the Orlando/New Smyrna area if anyone has recommendations!