It is a scam.

There seems to be no shortage of flakes, drug addicts, scam artist, and assorted dirt bags in construction. 

I get the satisfaction of knowing it will sit on their credit report and perhaps prevent them from buying a house, scamming another Landlord, or maybe even qualifying for a Kohl's card.

Yes very , as we have done 100s of props to pass the lead test and have " testers " that work for / with us Its about 450- 550 per doorBTW its just another scam from the city to generate money, THANK GOD they lost the lawsuit on having to have it to evict, FINNALLY some common sense in a terribly run building department. 

Here's my new thread after deciding I don't have time to sue out of state fraudsters:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/693876-my-story-of-being-scammed-by-morris-invest-and-oceanpointe

I found out later she had been scamming people for years and I got off pretty lucky.

Elhalawany Whenever you have people who flat out decline your reasonable request, they were probably trying to scam you.

With anything being sold by the owner, be wary, lots of scams exist.I'd love to connect to discuss how I may be able to help your situation!

let alone that a HUGE % of houses dont have the right exposure... total BS scam.

We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal.