I alway make the point of emphasizing that our properties (not just the buildings) are non-smoking and that our policy is a $100 fine on first offence and, on a subsequent offence, they will be required to move.Depending on the legislation, its quit probable you cannot prevent your tenant from smoking on the street or pavement in front of your property.In the future, you are well within your right to deny a future applicant because they smoke  - just make your non-smoking policy very clear up-front.

The tenant blows a gasket, asked the court for a new hearing, they were denied and the eviction is moving forward. 

I believe it's worth filing a claim with Chicago Title, the worst they can do is deny coverage and you're no worse off. 

Otherwise tenants may abuse the utility in your name.

IF they indicated they wanted to get a pet and were denied a year ago, can the ESA request be rejected as it's very likely bogus?

There is the windmill area that one has to drive through to get to the Tracy (last I heard, Google was sending a bus at least once a day for employees that want to commute to the main headquarters in Mountain View) and then to Stockton, so maybe this will delay the Bay Area spreading to Stockton?

In that case, 1. is it typical for the tenant to find a new owner and enlist the services of a broker, 2. if the current tenant does find a prospective buyer, would I as the owner act almost like a condo board and approve or deny that potential buyer?

I am especially concerned about the taxes and licensing/permitting issues in Ithaca -- measures that were theoretically supposed to control abusive slumlords but actually seem to be pushing small-scale sustainable landlords out of business.

Your Property Manager and the contractors should be able to tell if this is abuse or just coincidence.

The refusal to report the abuse allows (and encourages) it to continue.