So I put $1600 on a credit card for a down payment and then pay $500 a month until the full amount was paid off.

@Kyle LipkoRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

This is a pretty simple deal for a bank/credit union in the area to do a DSCR loan.

Then what happens is the lender reports your payment history to the credit bureaus and each time hereafter if you ask for another loan and the lender pulls your credit then they are going to see your payment history and whether you made your loan payments or not which will likely influence whether or not they lend you money. 

b) How do they (Cali Govt) deal with the damage, both in terms of who gets the blame and also where do they get the money?

If you really want to get rid of them, sweeten the pot by offering to return their deposit after you verify the unit is empty with no damages. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Right now, we’re carrying about $60,000 in debt ($40,000 in credit cards and a $20,000 car loan).

If the animal is a nuisance or causing damage, you can have it removed.

If a storm damages the roof before you begin, but a new roof was in the budget, you've lost nothing.