I'm a full-time Realtor here in Denver, and absolutely love what I do.

Since I own and rent a few properties already, I thought it would give a lender more security knowing I could go this route if it became absolutely necessary.

They'd want the security of knowing their place is paid for and not have that monthly bill and still have the equity they could tap into if absolutely necessary.

absolutely right, everything @Jon K. said below is spot on!

If you have absolutely no clue the best bet is to have a local attorney handle it for you, there are plenty of attorneys that specialize in evictions and will do so for a fairly low flat fee plus costs.The first step in almost any location is to provide the tenant the required pay or quit notice, giving the tenant X days (as required by law) to pay the rent before you can file anything.

Absolutely do not let them use that "last month" as a December payment.

As a general practice, we do not refinance unless we absolutely must {sometimes you really need want that 18-unit building} or there is an obvious advantage to refinance {i.e. we can secure a new interest rate 0.4-0.5 below our existing rate}.

@Melvin Cable - absolutely that would work.

@Brian Mathews I absolutely agree.

Justin B is absolutely right that your cash flow is not as high as you think.