If you have flexibility on where you want to invest you might decide Portland isn't the best fit, but I hear very little doom & gloom from those of us that work in the market day-in, day-out. well I think we can all agree what was once the finest city on the west coast has a lot of issues and with current government its going to take years to get back to what it was..

You need to really learn the laws, have a solid lease, and have policies and procedures in place to deal with the difficulties likely to arise.

If you're having that many problem tenants, you may want to review your screening procedures.

Finally, assuming I would be acting ethically and following the proper procedures are there different fiduciary responsibilities between just having my license as opposed to working under (or eventually being) a broker?

Evict them through your jurisdiction's legal procedure. 

The rotozip doesn't do anything to find a box and their is no laziness here, the concern is the electrician (and the GC who hired him) wanting to not follow standard industry procedures.

Thanks for the procedure advice @Nicole W..

Learn about the procedure in Virginia, post the necessary notice and go hire a lawyer that does evictions.

There are ways to do this that make it seem "routine" and "just part of the procedure that must happen when people sign a lease with you."  

Just go through the legal procedures.