The class is not required but if you want to know the law and avoid possible lawsuits you should take that class.  

This face to face meeting also gives everyone a chance to get acquainted and (everyone's concern) it does lower the chance of a lawsuit. 

When your tenant has been consistently late in rent and is clearly in danger of eventually being served an eviction notice, they said you should take them out to coffee and warn them of the dangers of eviction, and suggest they move out.In general, and here in Portland, OR in particular, that seems like asking for a lawsuit.

Main living area has 3 Beds/ 2 Bath. 1 Bed/1 Bath 650 SF Mother-in-Law suite above garage. 

Owning these free and clear make you a juicy target in the case of a lawsuit.

Until the lawsuit is filed and the lawsuit is won, it won't have a lien.

Will depend on several factors like the type of property, type of tenants, your risk tolerance, other assets you own, your estate planning, laws where the property is located, etc.Any lawsuits would be limited to the assets of the LLC and not your personal assets (assuming you run the LLC appropriately and the corporate veil is not pierced).

Also, from a public records search, I can see that the bank has filed a law suit against the owners for nonpayment of their debt.My questions are:What is the best way to approach this deal?

The first pillar is avoiding unnecessary and risky activities (don't drink and drive, insurance generally won’t cover your poor decisions) and take good care of your investments - these simple steps will help you prevent lawsuits before they even occur.

They may also be wary of a lawsuit for disclosing information about their current or past tenants.