In the future, a) get a super detailed Scope Of Work and ironclad Contract. b) Do not pay more money as a progress payment than the amount of work that has been performed, that way you are never ahead of the Contr or vice versa.Your options (depending on how much he owes you) are Small Claims Court, the State Registrar of Contrs, and possibly the local DAs office or State AG if the amount is higher ($50k ish)Good luck, let us know what happens.

I'd appreciate some insight from some local investors.

If no response from the tenant within their legally allowed time, file in your local l/t court. 

Local and National.

Local investor and realtor here.

I would definitely contact a local civil engineer or environmental engineering firm. 

You can reach out to your local property tax people and they can explain it in more detail.  

I want to throw this out to the community to see if anyone would have some local expertise to know if market conditions should warrant a request for seller credit or break the contract. 

First, go to your local REI meetups.

So I thought of finding investors that would help me buy local rental properties through a 501C3 so they get a deduction and then I can manage it as a charitable contribution or hire another PM and they get a charitable deduction.