As the owner of a property management company in Washington, I have encountered this situation before.

Much easier if your local contact has worked with these companies before.  

The redemption period in my state is 90 days, not three years.

He obviously signed a false statement.The buyer has a claim against the title company to pay the lien - and the title company has a claim against the seller.  

The only tie is really has with Chicago is the state capital being there.

I'd also partner with a lending company that understands how this is going work, and what your plans are.And last, but not least, I'd partner with a CPA to help navigate you to the ways of working this properly. 

I contacted ALE solutions on Friday through their housing request form and just resubmitted with a longer term minimum based on what you stated here.

Would you have any helpful tips on what I need to learn, know, expect in doing this in a new state.

Of course it is very important to do proper due diligence on the investment and the operator.As far as self-directed IRA there are number of companies offering such service, this topic has been discussed here on the forum many times so you should search using this keyword and learn from those discussions.

Another possibility is that maybe he was working remotely in another state or country and didn't want someone calling from North Carolina when he's supposed to be somewhere else.