She hounded me a few days, told her I haven't received the application and when I did, it was trivial to legally deny.Just another joy of being a landlord.If NEEDY applies to an existing tenant, refer them to Social Services or Hospice.

Your definition is correct for "legal non-conforming".The "legal" part of "non-conforming" is dropped when it doesn't apply so most commonly people call these units "non-conforming", "finished", "in-law suite/unit", or "bonus unit".Non-conforming: Any property that doesn't meet current zoning requirements.Legal non-conforming: A non-conforming property that was lawfully established under previous zoning regulations and is allowed to continue its use.Based on his posts @Mario Morales is referring to a non-conforming unit.

Read our copy & paste advice below on better screening for a PMC.Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

Whether I find a new tenant or not, the departing tenant moves out after 30 days and is treated like an ordinary termination, which means I process their deposit like normal and they can earn a good landlord reference.2.

I assume state laws dictate and for reference if necessary, this is in Pennsylvania. 

I like to outsource that to a local expert.I call/interview property mangement companies in a city that I like and ask them to refer me to a real estate broker who works with investors.  

First of all I put my acceptance criteria clearly in the ad: minimum credit score (enter X amount, 620 is what I use),income 2-3x rent, good rental history, references, no evictions, acceptance dependent upon background check and employment verification, pet policy, desired lease term, etc. so that people will hopefully read that and not come to the open house if they know they won’t qualify.

So for that, I would recommend getting a referral from someone trusted, someone without an agenda and someone who is not getting paid to refer you to the sponsor.

If you don't hire a PM refer to a attorney.

This will allow you give a reference point on how much potential rent you can receive.