No one is going to be able to offer any value without examining your W-2 and final payroll statement.Your best bet is to do those things then contact your company's applicable department or individual.

I contacted the lien department of the IRS, and they stated that there is no lien since the amount due is under an installment agreement. 

If you're worried about the legality just call Lakewood's building department.

You might be able to use the rental income from your departing residence.

There were days when I'd hand out 7 to 10 new claims to every claims examiner in the department. 

Is there a specific city department that you go to (county recorder, clerk, or assessor's office online)?

@Devon Daniels, if the tax auction was only 2-3 years ago, then redemption is done through the county probate judge or tax official (different counties, different departments) in charge of redemptions, not directly with the investor. if the investor is holding up the process because he/she refuses to sign off saying they are not owed anything for preservation improvements, then the taxpayer's remedy is to file a petition in Probate Court to redeem the property and establish the amount due to redeem. 

Put up with the situation and avoid her as much as you can, move on to somewhere else that won't be as nice in some areas, but better in others, or the last, decide if you want to stir it up with rent control, or the health department or whoever oversees rentals in your area. 

Important because of 1) you want to be able to purchase insurance again and this will be on your record for three to fire years, so secure docs stating what happened and 2) Subrogation - if origin and cause is determined and money collected, not only may you get your deductible back, you're more likely to make it thru underwriting -40% burned is a lot if not just smoke damage - check with the building department in your jurisdiction, if it costs 50% or more to rebuild, they are likely to require a teardown and rebuild due to safety code- Are you in an Agreed Value State - so where there is a fire and nothing to build on, i.e. teardown, will they give you the stated value.

Additionally, the township building and code enforcement departments will also do thorough inspections and require certain repairs that you may not have planned for when it comes time to get a CO.As for the rent prices... while the home purchase prices have skyrocketed in the past year in Gloucester City.