You can rent to someone else, but not your relative. 

This way you can also measure your relative success vs the time you put in.

Also, I don't understand your related note.  

Once you are licensed, the BRE is expecting that all of your related real estate activity will be under your license and therefore all of the standards of conduct, duties, and I would say disclosures would apply.

Keep in mind, your relative would have to either pay $XYZ for rent, or put down $ABC in downpayment, then still have PITI every month to deal with.

Or do you just not want to owe your relative?

And 2: Why would your relative agree to front the deposit?

Unless, of course, his lateness is causing YOU to be late paying your related mortgage.Tenant #2:  I would nicely, but firmly tell her that you are unable to accept anything except FULL payment.    

I read your bio and given your relatively new status as an investor and it appears you will be hiring a management firm as you are not local to Baltimore, I'd recommend you:Establish yourself as an investor of mid-priced properties first so as to gain experience and a solid financial foundationWork with your attorney to draft contracts to protect you as much as possible when you do allow pit bills in any propertyWork with your insurance company to make certain you will be covered despite the breedIf you can't get insurance or your attorney sees no good way to protect you from liability then you have a decision to make about how much of your personal wealth you are ready to risk to law suits.  

If I was you, I'd figure out how much time you think your relative will actually spend on tenant issues and maintenance.