Also a lot of big chain companies are going bankrupt.

Tell the LL you will have to bankrupt if they do not work with you.

Maybe I'd find out pretty quick I just don't have the cash or experience to step into this arena yet or worse yet, go bankrupt and lose my cash savings.Any thoughts from experienced R/E investors?

I have seen a lot of people attempt what you're doing and most all have gone bankrupt.

This hasn't happened to me yet, but what if the property management company I hire went bankrupt and could not give the tenants in my rentals their security deposit back?  

No way would I want to deal with those tenant laws and high property taxes.The state of Illinois is essentially bankrupt.

Social security and other entitlement programs are bankrupt.

If you have student loans, understanding that worst case scenario of bankruptcy, student loans are not bankrupt able..

In Wisconsin there are even creditor avoidance strategies like putting everything in your spouses name before signing a personal guarantee, since one spouse can go bankrupt and live off the assets of the other.

The excuse that I've been receiving from the master tenant who is a licensed commercial RE agent is that she needs more time and that she's bankrupt and doesn't have the money.