Well when you're part way in like this - that would be one thing (of a couple/few) that if an AHJ WANTED to, they could use that to kind of punish you. 

Is it is like thousands of dollars penalty or some other punishment they give?

I do not wish to punish the fellow, but I want to get adequate rent for my capital.

I'm not sure what the punishment is or how they go about checking on people being owner occupiers but I would wait it out and hope an owner occupier doesn't grab it.

I wonder why most aren’t properly zoned My guess is many were properly zoned but the zoning in Philadelphia actually changes often, or at least more often than I'm comfortable with, mainly because city council people can change zoning on a whim to reward or punish constituents and developers.

What governing body maintains and punishes private sellers for not signing an offer they do not want to entertain?

And yes, you may have read that there is an increasing tendency across many States to define "assigning" Properties (or Contracts) as BROKERING REAL ESTATE, punishable if done without a License.Welcome to BP!

Failure to do so constitutes a class 2 misdemeanor and is punishable by law."

Unlicensed broker means no education, possibly no money, possibly no ethics, definitely NO oversight, NO license, and NO state board to punish those for misdeeds.

You'd have to be a glutton for punishment to try more than one.