@Michelle Wang, I completely understand your frustration, and I want to say that you are not alone in this experience.

These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics.

All of our self-storage run at basically 100% occupancy except for our most recent addition. 

It is much better to have a reserve fund and add it monthly.

I've got about $525K in equity in the property, but lenders have told me that I cannot get a HELOC to access that equity for additional purchases because the duplex was financed as an investment - they have said TX law dictates that HELOC can only be used on primary residences.

We had to move fast and initially decided to sell it, the relator who was helping us somehow convinced us we should make it a rental property......... and let her be our tenant (insert face palm here) so since we had no real estate experience and we were already moved away, we agreed.

The 50% is rather deep a cut, especially with all the additional operational expenses not included into that 50%.

Additionally, regarding the legal structure, an LLC seems to be the most suitable option for our situation.

Give her 30 days notice now, keep her security deposit, and send her a additional bill for damages to the unit in lieu of taking her to court for the damages.  

Electing disregarded entity status avoids additional filings while achieving the same tax outcome.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.