If the property would perform well as an STR, the owner will make more money if they hire a legit STR manager and pocket the profits instead of handing them over to this fly by night operator for arbitrage.If it doesn't do well, the operator can just break lease and disappear.

After receiving these funds, he and his partner has completely disappeared, leaving us with no communication or updates for over 2.5 years.

Once you have REPS the distinction between passive income (or losses) and active income (W2) disappears and all those tax losses you have been banking can be applied to the W2.Good luck

Also, since they have written so many more in recent years than ever before (historically speaking) the problem will only escalate as more and more homeowners come to realize all their equity disappeared into these when they go to sell. 

It was awesome but then it disappeared for years.

The disappearance of the middle class is forcing many to have to rent.  

The HELOC may or may not disappear, but it will likely be "extinguished" from the property title after auction.After a first mortgage lender forecloses and it's lien is paid off with the proceeds from the sale, any surplus funds from the foreclosure sale are distributed to creditors holding junior liens, like a second mortgage lender or judgment creditor.And by the way, YES you should serve notices prior to entry just to be safe.After you acquire the property, what is the goal? 

When I started asking specific and perhaps challenging questions about the contract, the sales people disappeared. 

This may actually be the best method to prevent the sale from being discovered, but of course there are other potential pitfalls.Under federal law a transfer to a trust where the grantor retains the beneficial interest WOULD be exempt from the DOS... but notice how in the context outlined above the exemption would disappear.

Don't be surprised if the fee disappears.