I purchased an audio book from a bp author that mentioned exactly the same thing.

It's in a neighborhood that we love and the house is a great fit for us personally but we leveraged FHA financing and the local state housing authority grant program to get into the property for no money down and a PITI payment of $950/month.

@J Scott is this the author j Scott ?

The auction process is so far removed from the seller that it seems nobody at the auction company has the authority to discuss a price reduction that reflects the depressed value that these issues represent to the house price. 

Single tenant buildings (especially larger or national) typically pay their own bills directly to the taxing and utility authorities (NNN leases, typically), or pay gross rent.

In the view of many clients working with contractors to them the job is not started if they do not see people working on the project but contractors spend a lot of time talking with architects, running down to their local building department to consult with authorities and knowing about permit requirement etc, and it is true that contractors do spend a lot of time just putting together a take off simply in order to put a bid together, however, unless a client agrees to pay for that bid or estimate its on the contractor to take that on as the cost of doing business and this is one reason so few contractors still offer to provide someone with a free estimate. 

Since he has no real authority over me, and is a private citizen like myself, what if any rights do I have against his bullying? 

@David Greene (author of the book), provides a very good blueprint to follow, when getting into out of state investing.

The author does not manage his own properties but I do and it's not so bad. 

Just go on the Housing Authority website and search for the Housing Choice Voucher Program.