SB 721 launched an industry with its share of unscrupulous players.

I can also get points for my business with Chase or Amex. 

Hello Chase,I'm sorry to hear about your situation, you basically have the following options.1.

On the flip side given how sub to has been mass marketed through the guru / trainer folks you are going to have a lot of the buyers who are NOT properly capitalized  who dont understand how to do these correctly or are just plain crooks and when things dont work out they walk or even worse realize they can just rip rents and not pay on the mortgage this was very common back in the mid 2000s  I got a few interviews with the FBI chasing down folks that did this 20 30 50 times they were criminal enterprises and they ended up in prison..

Remember, no system is perfect, so avoid the temptation of constantly chasing after the next shiny object.

Focus on the fundamentals of the real estate and stop chasing an arbitrary door count.

If I'm in your shoes (which I was a few years ago) I would recommend attending at least 1-2 real estate meetups a month to start putting yourself out there and networking with other players in your market. 

Otherwise, bite the bullet and pay the real players in this area for what they provide (Buildium, Appfolio, RentManager, etc).

You need the income before you chase licenses.

Once you befriend one of these big players, ask who they use.