The only thing they didn't reimburse was excess cleaning (they said they don't reimburse for that) and honestly, I find that as cost of doing business.  

Signing the lease demonstrates they agree to the terms and then you can hold them accountable.If you don't do this, then the person named on the lease and paying the rent could disappear and you would have no legal authority to charge the remaining three for unpaid rent.

I'm a newbie tooSelf education through books is a conversation between the author (mentor) and you.You'll gain knowledge, connections etc but it takes timeAttending meetups, listening to Youtube videos on subject matter further broadens knowledge base

Are you aware of some actual legal authority that validates the IRS opinion on this issue?

Having rentals that just pay for themselves or generate excess cashflow you can tap for other things?

The people are a bit abrasive and the fees are excessive.

All it's doing is applying excess cashflows in your budget to principal payment.

[Oh, and for those who just like owning their primary free and clear because they're scared to invest their excess income to actually increase their eventual wealth, just give your Lender extra "Principal-only" payments as often as deemed appropriate to the "velocity" you're trying to achieve.  

Actually the last time I opened it it automatically forwarded me to the new web page and until that happened I hadn't realized that was what had happened.   

I recently came across one of there web sites that had there address in Princeton, New Jersey.