Here’s a simplified breakdown:Lease Agreement: Since your buddy signed a 12-month lease in July '24, he is legally protected until the end of the lease term unless the lease has specific clauses allowing early termination under certain conditions.No New Lease Signed: Since no new lease was signed for the new home and no formal agreement was made, the original lease terms for the townhouse still apply.Landlord’s Request: If the landlord wants to break the lease or has changed their mind about the swap, they would typically need a valid reason, like a breach of lease terms, or might need to negotiate an agreement with your buddy (buy out)Legal Advice: Your buddy might consider consulting a local attorney or legal aid service for advice on his specific situation.

Even lending to an LLC, which Dodd-Frank explicitly excludes, will get you hammered if the intent of your borrower is to use the property as a personal residence.For example, you could make a real estate loan against a gas station.

So my 'spidey senses' start to tingle when you tell us these things and it makes me want to question the validity of the lender.  

. ■ Mortgage ( 20% down so no PMI ) ■ HOA■ Electricity ■ Gas ( None because new construction house has electric stove ) (Everything is electric )■ Water Bill ■ Camera Security system ■ internet ■ Lawn Care■ Regular Maintenance □ Will I need to pay for " Trash " ?

Do you know anything about the validity of that? 

@Mason Hickman- valid points, wife loves doing the decretive fancy stuff, so that’s my plan for now.

The only potential problem is a very old and changing interpretation of the validity of doing this when performing a 1031 exchange. 

After 15 years in this business, the hard market looks like it's here to stay. my background is in underwriting cargo, commercial auto and marine risk for oil & gas and trucking and all markets are facing repricing or pulling out altogether due to higher losses during covid.

Is gas line a possibility for your properties? 

If not, it would just be true and validated everywhere.