We have been attempting to get a similar law passed in MO and got it past the House in 2017 and 2018, but not through the Senate and into law.

I went to college and real estate school,, then drove for dollars for months with everyone attempting to rip me off.. until finally got good partners even tho I had as good or better base education as them.

It took me about 6 years to get "... a fountain built in the city of seattle..." because the guy, unfortunately, didn't die with $14 million dollars.Signed qcds not recorded are useless afaik, usually a sign of attempted exploitation, or people selling deeds to property they dont own, (an oldie but a goodie in the fraud world) or medicaid planning that was never completed. 

Document your attempts to have legitimate repairs made, and when they're not made, find another place to live.

I did attempt to get the owner to pay for the repairs or do some of the repairs but he said no.I can get out of this deal pretty easily.  

Also, I would caution anyone from attempting to invest in something "better." 

My understanding is that if I attempt to put a property under contract, I would need to essentially put down a small fee (varying) in order to show that I am serious.

Are these people mandatory to have in place before I even attempt to make an offer on anything?

I am going to attempt to find my own seller off the market and create my own deal. 

Plenty of charity landlords in the world charging below market rent, some lamely attempting to arguing it is a good business decision.