The process must be understood and applied to team building, investing your and 3rd party capital, and financial deal structure with debt and equity sources. 

They tell you right at the start in which states you can apply this freely, which states have certain restrictions and which states you cannot do this without a license. 

DIL is a voluntary foreclosure.It is a loss mitigation option you have to apply for and be approved.

I suspect the person who originally turned it into a fiveplex only applied for permits to make a fourplex and then did the 5th unit fly by night (perhaps at a later date) in order so the property would still be considered residential and allow for better financing possibilities.

Applying for assistance means YOU get paid and helps YOU.

Another consideration which applies only to electric is access to the load center.

Any excess proceeds not applied to the investment portion may be taxable as "boot."

There are no problems being a landlord , just buy a property take the first renter that applies and rake in the cash . 

Late fees are automatically applied after the grace period but a tenant can make a full or partial payment any time.

What you are asking is a super important question and it doesn't just apply to lenders.