Refi usually means that you get a portion or whole of your principal back, so in this example, you may want to count that $85K as return of principal, not ROI.So, your initial position is $100K cash.

Do I have to put all my cash in or does it count to have part of it as a mortgage?

Based on income both from employment and passive income, my debt to income ratio after financing is will within tolerable guidelines after financing for the quad without counting rental income from the three units I will be under 28% for my back end ratio.    

As long as the entity pulling your credit is pulling a tri-merge report (all 3 bureaus) for mortgage services, you can pull as many as you like in a 30 day period and they count as 1.

The other income you have would need to show up on tax returns and would need to be averaged for 24 months to be counted. 

I’m thinking making sure someone isn’t now a registered sex offender or arrested for domestic violence would count.

I might be in a rush and forgot to count the cash so they didn't pay the full amount so it's now a you say I say situation.3.

If the property was purchased by an LLC and you are the majority owner of the LLC - not DBA than this should work and count towards the 6 month ownership requirement for an LLC, with conventional to then transfer title to your personal name at closing. 

Why would the lender, who isn’t receiving payments let a property sit for 3 years and counting, deny the deed in lieu and not respond to short sale offers?

One more reason to go MFR, BTW.If you get a full 27.5-year ride with a great investment property, you toast your spouse with a glass of outstanding champagne and count your blessings.