And all that for a very small profit on this house anyway after discounted judgements and closing costs.I would look for another deal.

Get what you can at the time, take what you can out of the deposit, go to small claims court or get a judgement with eviction if possible, and turn the rest into collections.  

Would I be responsible for any other liens or judgements that may be held against the property?

Trust your judgement and seek professional assistance in your own backyard.

But it's a judgement call of course.

Obviously, you'll want to check records for child support(and dates), any judgements (IRS liens will kill you if you don't know about them), any other judgements and of course property taxes.

Protecting the homeowner is my biggest concern here, and I'd hate to see someone get slammed with a huge deficiency judgement and ruined financially (even more than they are) because I didn't know what I was doing, you know?

In that case, and depending on the state, they might seek a "deficiency judgement" for the difference between what they were owed and what they got from the sale."

Even a credit card company can get a judgement lien against your property in case of default.

You are being way to vague.In Fulton here is how it works.Tenant is late on rent for whatever day stated in your lease 3rd,5th whatever.On that date they are late you give 3 day notice.If after 3 days they do not comply you then go to the closest court office and file eviction.It is usually about 78 dollars for the first person and then about 8.00 for each person thereafter.You fill out a separate form for each person to be served that is over 18 that is on the lease.Then after that you pay another 8.00 to file the form for (and all others) which will cover serving ANYONE not on the lease living in the property.After you pay the fee it might take the MARSHALL 1 week or so to serve the notice.The MARSHALL will personally try to serve the defendants at the door.If no answer they will tack the door and mail.If the defendant does not answer the tack and mail notice which they are given 5 days to respond then you are granted automatic eviction.The down side is you CANNOT get a judgement against them.You will have to go to small claims court or civil court on that.If they file an answer however to have a court date OR they were personally served and signed the papers that the MARSHALL gave them in person then the judge can issue a judgement in your favor if you win.If they do not file an answer you will be granted eviction but then must file and pay 20.00 for a writ of possession.The MARSHALL will then call you and set up a date for the tenants to be out.You must have a team of at least 4 people or so to do the eviction when the MARSHALL is out there.Most tenants leave before then.If trash is only thing left then rekey and document and when Marshall calls say the tenants already left.Change all exterior locks as you do not know who has a set of keys and make sure all windows and locks work and are secure.I can go into way more detail if you want but don't want to type a book.The whole process can take a few months.Do not tell the tenants when the marshall told you they will come out.The tenants will stay until the last second if told.You can instead tell them because of safety reasons for the MARSHALL we cannot give out the day and time they are coming but it is imminent.This will make them move fast as they don't want to worry about stuff being thrown out.DO NOT accept partial payments for rent before the court date.This can be deemed to have worked out a plan with the tenant by the judge.It also helps to know which judge you will be getting for your case.They will assign a mediator before you reach the judge if you can't resolve things with the tenant for a workout.no legal adviceany ?