Youd have to account for the rent you paid yourself as income to the RE, so unless youre operating the RE at a loss I see no tax advantage.

The seller is instead threatening to "not close" unless I sign a statement saying that the "work was completed to my satisfaction", which it has not been, so I am not willing to waive that right, as I estimate the outstanding loss to me to be ~$4,000.

Fill dirt is too loose to build on and lacks the hard pan need to build a foundation on without the the possibility of damaging the foundation by the weight of the house. 

Yup packages arriving that don't need signature can be problematic, above post is good thought about weight,, have tenant call sender and report it to the sender that received only partial contents, could the sender maybe be sending in 2 shipments and this just a partial shipment.Advise tenant not much else to do than require signature required on packages or have them sent to their job so they can take delivery there.This is a huge issue all over the country, people watch delivery trucks and simply rip off what's been delivered to the door step. 

A quality lender who is experienced at getting things done is worth their weight in gold.

Also, I know I've read up on blogs and heard in podcast about being sensitive for mailing to those who may have had a loss recently, ANY SUGGESTIONS for KEYWORDS that can help me trigger some good articles for a newbie as I push my first campaign out??

The seller could list the property for $1, subject to bank approval, and it would carry just as much weight. 

Obviously the IRS is looking at income and gains/losses.

But as most people have stated in this forum, it's better to get a bad tenant out quickly and cut your losses than to delay it.  

If the seller has no more problems(loss of motivation) for you solve SOMETIMES it's best to agree to disagree.