My long term goal at the end of my investment journey is to enjoy the journey, play the long game, and  have enough income from my investments that keeps my family well and financially independent.

Decide which game you want to play.

They are probably smart enough to wait until the court date, then they'll scurry off 1-2 days prior and move to the next victim.I manage 400 rentals and this doesn't happen to me because I don't listen to excuses or play games.

As long as you carry adequate insurance, as a landlord this means at least $1-2 million GL or umbrella per occurrence plus defense costs, the LLC's "protection" is never going to come into play.

Some still are careful to leave meat on the bone, but a lot are getting really greedy and play loose with their statements regarding ARV and Estimated Rehab Budgets.

Cash out refinance is always a risky endevoure as well, works well if you have a great buy or true value-add play. 

They were the result of the years of networking, building a reputation, having access to capital, and developing a great reputation/track record of honesty, fair play and success that brought me the deal flow those deals were part of.  

It turns real estate investing into simply an interest rate play.

And just out of curiosity, have you started playing around with note investing yet?

You have carpet and allow pets or infants, it's gonna happen.It's come to the point when the ONLY reason to have any sort of carpet in rentals these days is to play games like this.They're going to try to strongarm you.