This happens all the time, is not unethical or criminal, and you should not file a complaint.Here's the mentality of the other side of the transaction:1) Man, it sucks that I need to short sell my home, especially now that debt forgiveness is no longer protected in 2014 due to expired legislation.2) I had better market it properly to make sure the short sale is approved.3) I had better vet the buyer properly to make sure they close the deal.4) I would prefer a cash offer to a financed offer.5) Cash offer from someone I know is accepted.That's it.

SO nothing out of the pocket of the tenants, but the evil landlords that work hard to provide a solid home for these people get screwed.That is just CHICAGO proper and nothing is stopping you from investing here or as I do, in other areas around Chicagoland where the laws are more even and fair.

I would contact a Real Estate Attorney to help write up the proper contratct for your state.

If you relax on some terms, it can be used against you in eviction court.If the tenant doesn't pay on time, hit them with proper notice.

A properly discharged mortgage debt relieves the borrower of deficiency but does not 'cancel' or remove the mortgage from the property.

@Jeff GreenbergTo learn more about the Roth IRA transfer restrictions, see the following. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a/ch02.html#e...To learn more about the SIMPLE IRA 2 year transfer restriction, see the following. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/simple-ira-pl...

At the same time, I don't know anything about structuring a deal or landlording or any of that- I was thinking it would be better to split the profits with a mentor and learn the proper way of doing things along the way.I did buy the books to get a real estate license here in California through firsttuesday.us, and will be studying for the sales license exam.

From my perspective, it's not just about ensuring that you are legally allowed to invest and that you are able to proper publicly recorded title to a property, it's also about all of the other laws indirectly related to owning the property (ie. the court system, environmental laws, tenant/landlord laws, business laws, etc, etc).

Need to submit the proper paper work to the HOA, but they wont answer me to make sure I have the required documents and requests when I go to submit.

They can "hog the juice" too.