There is a formal protest process, that involves taking the protest before a board if I don't get satisfaction from the county office.  

You will need to send them a formal letter requesting they return the items, using their last known address withing a certain amount of days. 

It's not a requirement to foreclose judicially in most of the western states.Also, no, you can't put a loan in foreclosure for nonpayment in 60 days and go to sale at day 90 any longer (Thank the CFPB for that).

Just to start things off, I have no formal background in Real Estate, but I have a great interest in rental properties.

@Pedro Oliva:  The majority of Fortune 500 companies have formal coaching/mentoring programs.  

With that said, O.F. a property (and doing it properly) can increase the price you get for the property because it opens it up to a larger pool of buyers...buyers who can not get institutional financing and therefore will pay a higher interest rate with terms more favorable to the seller.Most investors balloon the payment in 5 to 7 years, but you could certainly do a straight 30 year amortization with no balloon.Some states are judicial foreclosure states and some are non-judicial foreclosure states (like Texas), so you would have to address that with a real estate attorney before you consider O.F. 

I made a tidy profit but could have done better if I would have not skipped one important step - a formal inspection.  

Shoul D I purchase a formal course first?  

I had planned to make it a formal LLC if it looked like we were doing good.

Then, once the seller agrees to the price you are offering, you could do a formal purchase agreement.