A few months later I did some research and lo and behold, 4-5 of these properties were for rent from the same out of state institutional investor. 

@Jay Lo best if you speak to a personal tax consultant There are to many variables to be able to give a accurate answer over chat

Which obviously makes no sense as a "verification," I'm that person's LO not their employer.

The LO should be for 3 years or more.

I think the only way for a LO to be good at non-qm, the LO would need to ONLY do non-qm.

Check with the LO, but most of them don't do down payments.I woudl call the Hard money guy and ask him, but i'm guessing he won't pay out until everything is completed.

You need a LO that specializes in working with investors and positioning you for success now and later, there's a big difference. 

I look under the sink and find out - lo and behold - the p-trap had been removed.

If I put myself in the shoes of an underwriter, two reasons come to mind why you might be applying for a refi and HELOC at the same time on two separate properties:1) Maybe you don't know any better and no one told you it was a no-no.2) Maybe you're a devious fraudster trying to borrow more money than you'd otherwise qualify for by doing four at once and not disclosing this.I as a LO that interacts with humans would be inclined to assume #1.

L/o is great but it takes too long to build capital as the terms are 2 or 3 years long.