I think it's a good thing to have tenants let me know what's wrong so that I can attend to it and make a judgement call on whether it needs to be fixed or not rather than sit on an issue and later find out it blew out of proportion because of neglect. 

There are all sorts of reasons why it may have sold for 2k. all that matters now is what it's worth it to you today.some reasons-buyer paid taxes or judgements etcthere were title issuesit was a buy out of a family or biz partnerthe last seller was a crack headgeneral distressed sale and a seller that didn't carethe property was in far worse shape than it is now

Ask people you know (and respect the judgement of) for a referral. 

My understanding is that the 1st deed is subordinate to Tax Liens, Mechanic Liens and Judgements.

The local screening service I use didn't come up with any criminal history, but did come up with one rental judgement from 2001 and one medical judgement from 2002 that has been paid.

In some areas the lender is required to bid the judgement amount of the forclosure proceeding.

If evicted, a judgement is basically worthless.2.

With all the rain we have had, there are plenty of these good deals around.Just gotta have the cash to pull the trigger.

You are not required to go to court and get a judgement to report them.

2) Move forward with the formal eviction process, wait for a judgement, then take back over?