Loans are not much of an option either as I had great credit and then went through a separation where most items were joint and not accounted for on his end.

@Al PatThis question is not that easy to answer as it was before.Basically you want to see if your entity should be taxed as an S-corp or as a Partnership.1) It depends on what your joint income level are2) It depends on what activity the entity is doing(Buy and hold or flipping/contractor work)3) It depends on the income that will be generated by the entityS-Corp can potentially save on Self-employment taxes. it will require the filing of an S-corp return.

If you don't want LLC, go with joint venture.

And to top it off:Very little furniture, lots of dump runs, sometime the grass and landscape get neglected for a couple weeks, always sweeping and vacuuming up dust, painters tape stuck to your clothes, joint compound imbedded into your jeans, tools scattered around the house, half a wall is opened, trim isn't done....

Asbestos may be present in textured paint and in patching compounds used on wall and ceiling joints.

If they are all on the lease together then wouldn't they be jointly and severally liable?

Do a Joint Venture instead.

You can learn what works really well for them, what mistakes they've previously made, and even potentially partner with them some day on a joint venture.  

If you all share in the responsibly and your investors have legitimate say in how it's run its likely not a syndication it's more likely a Joint Venture (JV). 

You can be a Hard Money Lender, A Private Lender, A Joint Venture Lender with very little problem.