This may not be illegal, but there is a police detective involved investigating what she calls "Mortgage Rescue Fraud," along with legislators aimed at shutting down these rescue scams.I am confident nobody here has any intentions of practicing these predatory habits, but we are all exposed to potential claims when dealing with the previous homeowners.

I just have a habit of calling him our "plumber". 

depends on your holding timeframe. the 10% capex rule comes from the idea that in the long run, your repair costs will average 10%. maybe you have no repairs for ten years, then in the tenth year you have repairs equal to 100%, your average is 10% per year. if you plan on selling in your fifth year, no harm in factoring in slightly less. if you keep it forever, will you start at 5% and raise it over the years?

I was told this year that one has a bad line going to the unit, so fingers crossed that the “habit” is broken.

., so my sending you the one used in Texas would or could do more harm then good.

That depends on the tenant and their habits.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

Neither state says mold harms anyone.  

You must make it clear that you are there to provide a habitable dwelling in exchange for monthly rental payments.

You might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”, since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant: https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processes