Not raising rents is a disservice not only to the landlord but to the renter.

Elimination of the RMLO licencing requirements AND the borrower, debt-to-income test for anyone originating Seller Financed mortgages who:Actually owns, holds title to, the property they are financing;Has less than $25mm in assets;Is ONLY originating loans <= $150k.Essentially, they are a proposing eliminating the requirements for folks who are selling low income house via seller financing.  

Born and raised in San Diego, CA.

they raised ours to $85.00 /Yr to pay for extra police presence. 

Is it mandatory to get a new lease to raise their rent?

It used to be an incredibly effective way of raising your score.

You would not have been reimbursed the full $5k.You would have recorded a loss on the new property policy, most likely raising future insurance costs. 

The biggest question mark that faces us right now is that we are intending on using the capital we have raised for the down payment for the house and trying to get some kind of rehab loan that will not only cover the house but also the expenses required to fix up the place.

We're empty nesters (raised 4 children), with retirement a little over 10 years away.

Will you be able to raise rents and attract better tenants (i.e. is it an area where better tenants want to live)?