In regards to your question about this scenario, we simply need more info.

In our eyes, a tenant that is simply renting the unit can gather their things and leave whenever they want, so the way to determine if they really have a vested interest in staying long term or not starts with them owning the unit. 

Simply call and ask how many bedrooms, when was the kitchen last updated and what work needs to be done to fix up the house.

@Laura Askew Aunt and Mom should simply put you on the deed as Joint Tennant.

The kind of problems you need to search for and that are not visible by simply visiting the property with your contractor. 

Also, by the time we were discharged and COULD start making our payments, we were 3 payments behind and according to our mortgage company's policy were not allowed to make online payments.So starting at the end of September I started trying to submit a borrower assistance package to our mortgage company, I made three attempts to submit this, and each time they required information that I had already provided them with.

Shoot me a DM if you want more clarification on this - I plan on writing an article on this topic in the future, due to all the discussion I see around the topic.This isn't legal advice, but simply my own thoughts as an investor on the issue you are facing.

You are probably ahead of most by simply taking action.

From a purely financial perspective, the optimal solution would be to leave the mortgage in place and simply use the windfall for investment purposes.

I wrote before about a property management company in the area that I simply couldn't get ahold of.