It's been difficult to navigate restrictions and recent legislation.  

And texas legislation?

It does not have to be in the entity  ( LLC and S-crop) CA has not enacted any legislation in response to the new 20% deduction, so it is still not sure CA will actually give you the deduction even if you qualify on the federal level. 

I'm not specifically familiar with any Houston requirements for a "Contractor's License" but there is not a State of Texas requirement for a "Contractor's License". 10 - 15 Years ago, the Legislature passed a requirement for all Builders to "Register" with a State Agency (I forget which one) but the requirement was dropped in the next legislative session.  

Is this in violation of any legislation, or just a bad practice?

While some of the recent laws have made things more challenging for businesses, others like the MHA legislation (Seattle rezoning to add density) have offered real estate investors new opportunities.

The first line of the Legislative Counsel's Digest includes the following: Existing law specifies that a hiring of residential real property, for a term not specified by the parties, is deemed to be renewed at the end of the term implied by law unless one of the parties gives written notice to the other of that party’s intention to terminate. 

The first line of the Legislative Counsel's Digest includes the following: Existing law specifies that a hiring of residential real property, for a term not specified by the parties, is deemed to be renewed at the end of the term implied by law unless one of the parties gives written notice to the other of that party’s intention to terminate. 

Federal fair housing law is some of the most powerful legislation on the books.

Local Legislation, tenant pool quality, tax legislation, natural disasters, job market growth, saturation of real inventory, and real estate market disruptions through innovation are a few of the things that you cannot control.