When you step into the existing landlord's shoes, how do you know the contractsbetween then the and the existing tenants are correct and fully declared.

Your research should include background checks and basic court records search. 

The ordinance even went as far as giving tenants the right to put their rent money in escrow with the court if their landlord didn’t get the property remediate.

Look up a couple properties and play along in your head.Biggest piece of advice: Will county court DOES NOT ALLOW PHONES.

Economy goes down and tenants can no longer pay the rent, courts get backlogged with evictions, and the investor has a money pit that sucks away any potential cash flow for years to come.Any investor really needs to go drive these areas if they are looking to buy those types of products.An investor might do better to buy in a B area or better instead for new construction in a subdivision where the home owner rate is high and the renter ratio is low.

People can sue anyone for anything in the US so there is a risk they find out about their mistake and take you to court for fraud or deceiving them, especially if you do it often.

From my understanding, even though we are both responsible for any liability, it's not a 50/50 split (i.e. if it's a 600K judgement (in this hypothetical, assume no insurance coverage) and I have 500K in assets and he has 100K, it's not like I only owe 250K, the court would make me pay 500k right?

Nope, go ahead and take me to court (yet to happen, but very possible), its not worth my time to discuss.

And if you have kids, not just guardians, but temporary guardians like your babysitter or neighbor who can take care of your children while the long term guardian arrives, That way you avoid child services and the long court system.

Check precedence in your state... in Wisconsin, late fees will typically not hold up when trying to collect in court, if you didn't enforce them before.