If your looking for areas to hit and to avoid in Cleveland take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods.

Unfortunately money is an issue in this situation, although we "have" an attorney that has been "guiding" to some degree.

https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/selling/b4/1.3/05.html#Gross.20Living.20Area

There are so many resources on here that will help you.Attend local REIA meetings and connect with like-minded investors: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meetRead the Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investingListen to the BP Podcasts: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/podcast/

If you are unsure, I would strongly suggest you contact a lawyer in your area to guide you. 

I wonder if somebody can guide me in the right direction.

Nicole,If you end up targeting the Cleveland area give The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods a read.

Homeowner stopped paying mortgage since they were asked for over $2000 per month going back a year ago, Can anyone guide me if anything can be done at this stage?

As for where to start, I would start by reading the BP forums, listen to BP podcast episodes and check out the beginner's guide here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investin...In my opinion, his methodology is helpful to people who have a lot of consumer debt (credit cards, personal loans, etc), but not all that applicable to real estate investors. 

Here are some recommendations for you:Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meetSet up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsRead Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investingIf you wish to tag someone in the conversation on the forum, type @ followed by their name and then select the name of that person which should appear below the comments box.