We have a holding deposit/agreement in place and the lease is already signed and prorated rent paid. 

I contacted my lender and she said that unless the old contractor signs a release, I cannot switch contractors.

Create a lien release and tell him if he signs it and sends it to you, you will send him $40K.  

If the latter is your issue, you're not equipped and you're going to tap out in whatever market you invest in at the first sign of adversity cause you're weak.

Always personally take a picture of the dog before lease is signed.

We would require the tenant to sign a holding deposit agreement.

Besides comprehensive lease agreements outlining the tenant’s property maintenance and damage prevention responsibilities, I am also thinking about signing with a tenant's additional agreement with all prices for typical damages which they need to sign with a lease.

Ours states that we can sue the tenant if they caused damage like this via neglect.Being able to threaten the tenant with a lawsuit may be enough to get them to move and sign a hold harmless.

@Katie Southard For first tenant after we moved who said no way to get to post office during hours, we gave them our keys with signed addendum to the lease that said if they don’t return all of our mailbox keys at lease end, I’m reimbursed for my deposit from their security deposit, and that they are responsible to obtain new keys from post office, themselves, during lease term if lost.

I have been told by some people that the lease being signed over would only cover existing cell services at the time.