Justice.

Or is appreciation just icing on cake that, if it happens then great, else you don't care about it?

Brandon Turner says appreciation is just icing on the cake, treat it as such.

Has anyone had to deal with receiving a "Notice of Forfeiture In Rem" letter from the Dept. of Justice for a property they hold a note against?  

Sounds like for my situation it's best to stick with using cash-flow as my measure and any potential increase in equity is just icing on the cake.

In that case the Justice of The Peace has just one question; "Did you pay?"

I just reread my last post and I don't think I did the course content justice. 

I hope the lawyer does not bail on me like the realtor did:-)Thank you very much everyone with all the positive advise.I hope, pray wish this guy will be kicked out by the justice system by end of June and not drag it further.

And they have seven years to sue you after they are informed, by that helpful "social justice" lawyer that are very plentiful in WA looking for work, that they have been a victim of "equity skimming" AND you are liable to make them whole based on the true market value of the property when the lawsuit is over and you have done all of your renovations (Not based on the date that you bought the property) AND you can be held criminally liable AND the Consumer Protection Act allows for Triple damages AND the seller doesn't have to tell you when you are buying the house that they are behind or that they "think" that they may get behind on their mortgages or property taxes.Is this Orwelian, or is it Stalinistic?

I'm sure there is some part of the uniform code of military justice that could be brought into play, but you would have to talk to a military lawyer about that.