Meaning they fulfill the lease and give proper notice before moving.

The upside is that you won’t have the stress of having a mortgage to eat revenues and stress to ensure that the rent clears before the loan payment does.

Although it’s your equity, a HELOC needs to be paid back all the same with interest.Failing to handle this debt properly could hurt you financially and lead to negative consequences; however, handling it successfully can help you manage your expenses as well as lead to positive financial gain down the road.

If you're going to do this for the long-term, it's worth talking to a real estate lawyer and spending a few bucks to get it done properly until you know the procedure.   

That said, knowing contracts, disclosures, and how to properly negotiate are important factors.

Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

What I'd recommend is setting proper expectations.

When you are a long distance away, it is already hard enough to trust that your contractors are properly making repairs, or not over-repairing when not necessary.If you have contractors you trust and work well with, then I think it is OK to self manage from far away, but don't allow your tenants to work directly with your contractor, otherwise you can be taken advantage of.

Ensure you include all of the expense calculations when number crunching (property management, vacancies, maintenance, capital expenditures, property taxes, and insurance).

It has nothing to do with getting them thrown out onto the street.What it WILL accomplish is once they have something in writing, ie Notice To Pay or Quit (or whatever your official notice is in your location) they can go to any of the many, MANY great agencies that help people in this type of situation.Once properly served, everyone will know that the clock is ticking.