A Trustee named in a Deed of Trust is not a party to the making of that agreement other than to serve after the deed has been executed, in fact, they have no duty to act as they may decline to do so.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.I've come across a potential deal in a mid-sized Ontario with about 150,000 people, and relatively stable economy/population (hasn't moved since 2000, but it's not declining).

What neighborhood is it in and is that area climbing or declining?

If its still declining, personally, I wouldn't want a part of any declining area. 

Gateway School district (the school district of monroeville) has gone from AAAA sports to AAA which alone is an indicator of a decline in population.

View interactive map displaying SFR returns in all 375 counties analyzed.Rental yields decrease in 57 percent of marketsMedian sales prices for single family homes rose faster than average fair market rents in 213 of the 375 counties (57 percent), resulting in declining gross annual rental yields in the same percentage of counties.Counties with the declining gross annual rental yields included Los Angeles County, California; Cook County, Illinois, in the Chicago metro area; Maricopa County, Arizona in the Phoenix metro area; Miami-Dade County, Florida; and Queens County, New York.MethodologyFor this report, ATTOM Data Solutions looked at all U.S. counties with a population of 100,000 or more and with sufficient home price and rental rate data.

If you structure it a lease with a declining balance option to purchase, you are on better ground.  

The listing agent literally told me he contacted our agent and our agent failed to contact us about the offer being declined and asking for a counter.

Both have declining populations.

Depreciation will be there but the mortgage portion you pay for interest will decline over time.