@Joe Splitrock As far as looking at the underyling local economy, I've been able to find data on population growth from the census bureau but it seems much more difficult to find data on job growth.

Which county authority conducted this tax sale - was it a sale conducted by the county Tax Claim Bureau (TCB) or was this at a county Sheriff sale?

When they paid their rent on time, I reported it to the Credit Bureau. 

In PA, tax deeds are most often sold at a Tax Claim Bureau (TCB) auction, although in some counties tax deeds can also be sold at sheriff sale.

And what bureau/association do I need to contact?

But as the other posters indicate it seems to be relatively rare that a landlord would get paid anything in these circumstances.The issue of prison interfering with his rental chances is an interesting one but I think easily handled by an enterprising tenant: they could just say that they were living with friends or family, hence the gap in their rental history.

I currently use a real estate broker who runs the ads, does the credit bureau check and criminal checks and all the usual tasks.

All 3 bureaus will be pulled, commonly called a Tri-merge; fancy name for combining all 3 bureau reports in to one easy to read format.Auto loan lenders are free to use an version, most use Fico08 auto-enhanced.

Your savings is $8,900, and you can probably find a good reliable vehicle for $5-6k that you would trust driving that much, maybe cheaper if you are enterprising or know how to fix cars.

However, you can benefit  you’re comfortable and willing to work directly with the building department, bureau of engineering, etc.