I do realize I'm facing an uphill battle when it comes to finding a bank that will work with me.

If you need an appraisal from a bank anywhere near your property's real value, be prepared for an uphill battle.

Along my journey to financial freedom i came across real estate as an investment vehicle to supply my life dreams of being able to attend all my kids games and still have a cash flow able to provide my dream life and goals.Trought my adult life my girlfriend and her family have stood by and watched me  change for the better. loving and supporting us while fighting there own battle.

I have been making my list of things to be explicitly clear about as a landlord one day, and now I'll have to really process whether or not this is a battle I want to fight with tenants! 

You could have plead ignorance, but now that you know, it would be fraud and you absolutely will lose this battle....you got the money, the buyer got nothing.  

Good luck, fighting the battle myself!

The only debt we have is the mortgages (2 rentals and our primary residence) so we're really battling psychology on whether it feels better to have zero debt moving forward or the cash flow from continuing to own rentals. 

It's been nothing but a battle with her since day one!!!

In any case, the battle lines aren't the stereotypical right/left rep/dem binary, and it's far from a done thing.

Hopefully it doesn't escalate to a legal battle...Best of luck.