There is the issue of rents and financials being manipulated, vacancy not being true or other misleading claims, but we'll skip that side.I don't know Lakewood, but I'd first protect my money by knowing my market, the local regulatory issues and code requirements.If you are going to invest as a slumlord, find out how life is with slumlords in your area.

Born and raised in New Orleans now living in Hammond, LA and currently working full time as a regulatory consultant in the oil & gas industry.

And this document, their annual SEC filing, is where you would expect to see any regulatory items, if they existed.

So, my initial thought that the RE investing in this manner may hit some walls after it came out in the regulatory wash.

I doubt anyone has built their portfolio this way yet, since regulatory changes are so new.

I guess I am not surprised that a state regulatory agency is asking what @David Jonsson is doing.

Dodd Frank is regulatory.

As to financing, you will have regulatory issues mentioned unless you are exempt, see your attorney. :)

@Bill Gulley is probably the sharpest regulator I know the United States.

If you want to figure out if your trader or firm (FCM or introducing broker) that will be handling the trading has any recent regulatory or legal violations, check out https://www.nfa.futures.org/basicnet/welcome.aspx THE LINK IS TO A REGULATORY SITE that oversees all FUTURES-MARKET PARTICIPANTS that interact with clients.