I'm currently looking for pocket listings and off market deals to to fix and flip. 

The only other you might try to to use door hangers and advertising to round up these possibilities.  

Retire with no worries, no debt, and the ability to travel anywhere we have to to be around family.

Before you even consider a trip to court (and I'm not sure why you'd consider this option at this point anyway) you need to be aware of your options as a tenant in your state in terms of what you can do if a landlord does not address repair issues to make a rental unit "habitable".You also need to be aware of just what limits a landlord must go to to achieve this.Colorado does allow a tenant the right to withhold rent IN SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES if a rental unit is "uninhabitable". 

I am looking for information on employment verification and what the government has to say about it vs. what the bank has to say about it.

Any suggestions on who to specifically reach out to to help you define what your investment criteria should be?

According to to chart here, looks like still good time to invest in retail as not peaked yet.

I've talked to a few asset based/stated income/alternative income verification, etc. lenders but most focus exclusively on investment properties - which is great. 

I'm trying to get into a home in Washington state, which I can make changes to, to make it handicapped accessable for my mother.

That was the route I took along with hard money loans in order to to flip houses early on.