I like the idea of a hold back until the punchlist is complete, but that doesn't prevent an unscrupulous contractor from stealing the initial deposit...

You can only do so much to prevent worst-case scenarios  EXACTLY!!!

He may get stuck with rent control laws that prevent him from catching up later. 

We do preventive rodding, but I guess it didn't get the job done.  

Clean it up a bit to get most bang for the buck add ons and preventative damage items like water leaks.

What I do for my units with shared meters is I charge 50% flat to each tenant which prevents waste I get no issues with any waste due to this but the ones that share electric bills do get many complaints due to the size of the bill.

Encourage him to set long-term goals, connect with mentors, and use educational resources while keeping the learning process fun and balanced with other activities to prevent burnout.

(And if so, how do you prevent everyone in the neighborhood from using it?)

This would help ensure that we take the appropriate steps to address the issue and prevent it from happening again in the future.If it turns out that my unit is the source, I will take responsibility and address it promptly.

Hurricane Helene prevented us from hitting $200k revenue this year since the interstate got shut down for major repairs and tourism traffic suffered this last couple of months which are always the best months.