Any advice or relevant legal references would be greatly appreciated!

Tenant Relationships and Legal Considerations Impact: Rent control laws often come with increased tenant protections and legal requirements that landlords must follow, such as eviction restrictions and rent increase caps.

Once my parents told me our tenants bathroom was nicer than their own I quit upgrading unless I had a complaint or there was a serious issue.

You cannot (legally) exclude your capital gain when you sell your NJ house next year. 

Legal action- no attorney is willing to take this on?

First, Andrew Holmes decided to remove me from the program because I followed my real estate lawyer's advice, and "disobeyed" Andrew's legal advice: I didn't file a foreclosure on my paying borrower.

Making the basement a legal unit is costly but can be done as an ADU depending on your exact location (ADU zone maps are on City of Chicago site).

There was a legal notice taped to the front door and I have reached out to the attorney listed to confirm that Core Capital REO has the ability to assign listing agreements on behalf of the bank. 

@Zhenyang Jin A DBA is generally not necessary for your LLC in California unless you plan to operate under a name different from the LLC’s legal name. 

Here's another idea.There should be a legal publication in your area (ask an attorney) that has this info too.