.- Does tenant (family) have an established cumulative 3.5X monthly rent (or more) income?

If you also have the ability to establish residency in Florida, that too is something you should try to get. 

If I were you I would just do it, and leave her in place for a year so you can get rent established in the other side.  

I'm newer to REI, and would like to start establishing some relationships with reputable GCs in the area.  

First you need to establish your financial "finish Line". 

Lastly, if you are still worried, moving forward write your rental criteria on paper, make sure it follows fair housing laws; go get it notarized and stick to it, the next time this happens and you deny someone for the reasons on your criteria you can clearly point out in court that your criteria was well established before they even ever came in the picture.

Creating an LLC to transfer the property into and looking to build credit/ establish the loan via the LLC.  

Thanks again, any one with experience on whether just going through Foreclosure would facilitate a transfer or not and eliminate the need for me to establish the heir's ownership as he will not come forth to contest as he doesn't want the property?

(think attorney to draw up docs, attorney to handle foreclosure/default situations, vendors to establish a value or do background checks on potential borrowers, a system to securely transmit sensitive information from borrower to lender, the appropriate disclosures in place, an application, etc etc).

Work to establish a relationship with the business owners of next year.