When you are on the commercial side of the bank, and borrowing on the bank's balance sheet, they have a lot more flexibility to how they handle loans.  

How much are you spending on tax filings, anderson advisors, banking and checking accounts per year?

And does his bank accept it? 

City National Bank has a $50K grant program for homes in certain neighborhoods.

You may be able to get a levy against their bank account or file a wage garnishment without the need for going to collections. 

However by your own admission this is a large bank.

@Brandon Weis just an overly conservative bank. 3.5% down with FHA on up to 4 units.

Since this is my first go around - I'd really appreciate advice on the following:- any references on lawyers /firms to work with to go through the Barment and foreclosure process without breaking the bank.- Ball park ranges - what can I expect the cost of this process to be?

I know some mentioned about developing banking relationships and I totally agree with that, so here is what you do. 1) Open a business checking account in the name of your LLC to hold the assets. 2) Deposit your cash into that account to fund the real estate purchases3) After owning for 60-90 days, talk with a local lender about a line of credit against the 2 properties at 60% LTV. 4) After about 30-45 days, have the line open to use if you need that liquidity that you used, but until then you are not paying 7% interest on nothing. 

Will he co-sign on loans from banks or private lenders, or will he just say, call 15 banks?