I have had the WORST luck with finding a lender to assist me with refinancing A free and clear home I have in order to take the lump sum to the next project of portfolio building with buy and holds.Just brief example:  With travel you may get $15 hourly then tax free stipends (which seems to be the killer for loans) which include lodging, food, travel etc.  

The property was then closed with a warranty deed issued by the seller, but the mortgage lien originally on the property was never cleared, and the original lien holder end up forclosing the property under the sellers name? 

As Wayne points out, if there are junior lien holders, its even more complicated.

People are dumb and no matter what you say, you will always find people with food in their units. 

You've certainly given me food for thought.

Food for thought a 3% raise on rents per year.

No one can figure anything out for you with that information but, If the foreclosing entity is the senior lien holder, any lien behind it is wiped out, with very few exceptions.

At this point he is just a cash investor, not a lien holder or title holder.

I'm willing to cover the food and drinks.

The manager could have maybe done a better job during the inspection and looked for any evidence of pets - food bowls, feces, beds, toys, etc. but maybe the tenants were thorough in hiding all that.