While many investors facing a defeat will throw up their hands in despair, the best ones will take the setback in stride and press on.

If true it would defeat the point of trying to buy and hold real estate

If you're a landlord in these states, you should be trying to defeat these measures.The state of Oregon Rent Control Bill Passes their Senate.

It would mean to admit defeat.

Therefore, they state that they don't need a license.MA state law soundly defeats that claim. 

If you're like me, having those citations on your personal record is nerve wrecking and defeats the entire purpose of forming the entity, but that's another part of learning).

My goal is to grow my portfolio to a few dozen properties over the next several years, so the common advice I receive of an LLC per property seems like overkill and a huge burden that defeats the purpose of the term "passive"1) What is the best way to accomplish my goal of forming an entity to protect my assets?

I then negotiated it down to $500 total at $50 month for the next 10 months.If that isn't a judge acknowledging defeat over a b.s. local ordinance I don't know what is.So after having thousands and thousands of signs go out, that fine and one other one have been my only cost.Signs work and I'm thankful the citys keep the intersections clear for me.  

But doesn't this defeat the purpose of the separation of assets if you're going to co-mingle everything?

But as you mentioned, even if there is an exchange created the volume would be so low that it would be self-defeating since you are dealing most of the time with very location-specific investments and companies with non-audited financials.