Perhaps a quit claim deed where I pay the past due HOA fees?  

if the missing appliances and damage happened after closing you may have an insurance claim.  

We have already claimed success in planting the seed and turned it over to God, now it is up to us to water the seed and let the magic work! 

Commercial properties (retail, medical, office, etc.)?

There's a federal tax incentive:A taxpayer may claim a credit of 30% of qualified expenditures for a solar system that serves a residence located in the United States that is owned and used as a residence by the taxpayer.The LADWP (Los Angeles Department of Water & Power) also offers an incentive which comes in the form of a subsidy for the electricity you do get from the grid.

I don't claim to be the end-all-be-all guru but I do buy property with my wife and we are successful landlords and I do love and am passionate about real estate as an asset class due to the tax benefits and control that it offers over other types of investments.

As most attorneys specialize in a particular area of law, the attorney advising you on your lease will not likely be the best person to advise you on your corporate/asset protection matters (and vice versa) - be wary of those who claim to do both, as "generalists" will know the basics, but the basics are only enough when things are going well...

Looking at it that way, I don't see why that one part-owner can't just sign a quit-claim deed and give up his portion of the home. 

So far, so good.I then received a series of frantic emails from both tenants (they are a couple) claiming amongst other things that the painter had moved all of their bedroom furniture, leaving everything for them to put back, and that the painter had interfered with personal items.

Yes, i'll pay for the attorney but i am done with these manipulating, un-grateful tenants.My insurance deductible is $2500 and the damage is not that great to warrant filing a claim...and tenant insurance doesn't pay for structural damage (they don't even have insurance)...