(a) A person who knowingly obtains, possesses, or uses identifying information of another person, living or dead, with the intent to fraudulently represent that the person is the other person for the purposes of making financial or credit transactions in the other person's name, to obtain anything of value, benefit, or advantage, or for the purpose of avoiding legal consequences is guilty of a felony punishable as provided in G.S. 14-113.22(a).

Email/letter reminders of lease terms citing violations for criminal /disturbing the peace, and a good old fashioned punishment from mom seemed to do the trick.

I make these sacrifices and the response is punishment?

That is simply because unless something is codified as being unlawful, it is lawful. 

Violations, vacant spaces, unlawful occupancies, no leases, no documentation bc cash tenants you name it I had it.

Or worse, you tell the tenant no and they hire a lawyer and put you in front of a jury of woke millennials who want nothing more than to punish an evil landlord.

You have to have some responsibility before the court will punish you, and then it has to be for a large enough lawsuit that insurance won't cover it.You have a better chance of being struck by lightning twice, but it is important that you do what makes you feel comfortable.

We file an unlawful detainer.

The amount of anti-discrimination compliance training I've received is freaking endless, but at no point has any of that training included a single iota of "be careful you don't treat veterans better than non-veterans, or it's unlawful housing discrimination!"

If you clean it yourself and then deduct some fee from their deposit you could be on the hook if you get sued for the deposit return (some states award 3x or more of the deposit for keeping some/all of it unlawfully).