Alot of what this is about is not a safeguard for consumers as claimed, in my opinion, but a way to make it very hard for the small mortgage broker to survive.

I used Robert Hubbard at Safeguard financial (I think the website uses Safeguard CP).

Ditto a house with a bonus room with no closet that cannot be described as a bedroom but could certainly be a bedroom.I would ask my realtor to show me comp sales to justify the price.Also, house must appraise at the purchase price for your loan process to go as expected...the bank appraisal SHOULD act as a safeguard to overpaying.

I'm not saying don't plan on spending nothing while you are living there, but that those line items for vacancy, repairs and capex are safeguards.

I am just playing devils advocate in this subject .. as I have been through these deals in the 80s I worked for a big syndicator in the bay area.you can have all the indemnifications you want but the investors will revolt and sue you if the deal goes sideways.. you would be very naïve to think the language in the doc YOU prepare is going to save you from litigation.. does not mean the other party is right but you still will get sucked into the vortex and spends thousand if not hundreds of thousands.Case in point... friend of mine when I lived at Silverado in Napa county was and is a syndicator he bought a big high rise commercial building in Houston 10 years ago... well you know what happen with oil. its now a see through .. and they lost it to the bank.. investors revolted and sued him that started 2 years ago.. and its all over the local paper.. so it kills his rep and no doubt he has the same safeguards you mention.. but that simply won't stop litigation.Where I have seen rob peter to pay paul is with syndicator that had multiple partnerships.. borrow from a good partnership reserve account ( PPM said you could) loan to prop up another.. the other still can't make it and is put into BK and liquidated and the other properties are now in jepordy.. this company ( did acquisitions for them as  a broker  great gig made a ton of commish)  had 5,000 investors...

There definitely need to be safeguards for both landlords and tenants in place, but sometimes laws are so restrictive that they tie the hands of one or the other.I need to study the laws of my home state more.

Home owners and property investors have a heightened sense of urgency when it comes to safeguarding their properties, so I can understand the looks of shock and horror I receive when I urgently implore:  Do NOT shovel your roof!!

It seems BP would want want to safeguard the community...I vote for a new category for BPers to post their CAUTIONS and reported SCAMS.

Anything else I could do to safeguard myself?

If you do it yourself, what safe guards do you put in place to make sure you aren't violating any debt collection laws?