Also, you must familiarize yourself with local laws and regulations regarding STRs to avoid purchasing in areas that are not STR-friendly, which could save you from legal headaches and poor investment choices.Another critical strategy is staging your home to appeal to your target guests.

The PM company has it on their website that "If you have been evicted from a property, we consider this a legal event, and the application will be denied." 

Can they even do this and should I get my legal on this or just ignore and rent anyways? 

I am posting looking for some guidance and possible advice (as much as legally possible) in order to help a family member.

Can I ask the seller to legalize the unpermitted work before closing?

In the world of development you have money at risk to complete these and other reports, legal, zoning, permitting, environmentals, etc before you go hard on your deposit with a seller.

From my understanding, the legal obligation is a 7 day notice for a month-to-month lease in North Carolina.

However, if you want to go after the balance and you have an eviction judgement from the court, you can higher an attorney to find legal means of collections, such as garnishment.

But I have been looking into splitting the duplex into two condos (yes I know it is a lot of work) and I could probably get 325-350k for each, netting me 650-700k.Number:* Mortgage interest 2.5%* Mortgage principle 240k* PITI $2100/month* Rent 2200/month (current tenant on a two year lease)* Potential rent on my side $2400/month * 100k HELOC at 11% (fixed) (not currently being used)* est additional cost to split the dueplex 75-100k (conservative, probably less)     *new siding 30k (just put on a new roof this year)     *legal 10-15k     *fire proofing 15k     * 15-40k for stuff I am not aware of or underestimated on* some of the appreciation is external from the home     *big grocery store put in 3min away     * newly paved road in front of my house     *a building that was falling down across the street has been torn down          * Still a vacant lot with the foundation exposed and fencing around it (so more local improvements are on the way)Part of me wants to take the money and run but man I love that 2.5% interest rate and the $2000/month cash flow (including taxes and capx)I have thought about 1031 exchanging into more rentals, but I would like to pivot into storage units.

Unfortunately this is a buyer beware situation and predatory business practices are legal.