I just want a legitimate opportunity where I could use my research skills to find viable investment properties for a "finder's fee" while I learn the ropes.

If there is a right, then one should enforce it, because it was set for a legitimate reason.Based off the guidance, "Its better to asks for forgiveness, than to ask for approval."

are the sellers really in such a rush to sell a house via wholesaler that an extra week to close would legitimately kill the deal?

Any investment claim needs to be inflation adjusted to be legitimate and taxes need to be taken into account as well.

But that is what I have done in the past with their name and contact info to make it look legitimate for a one time thing.

Trademarks are a legitimate piece of intellectual property and they have real value.

If you've found a legitimate way to avoid UBIT in an ordinary IRA, please provide a pointer.

Staggering the rents seems an alternative if this is a legitimate limit to the platform, but I'd probably go to a new payment platform before I did that.

Exactly the same problem if this was her own home she owned.With that said, you are responsible for legitimate repairs that come up and/or are needed. 

If you feel nervous enough about a person that you can't trust them in this interaction, I assure you as time goes on you won't learn to get a warm and fuzzy.that said, find an equivalent statement from the same issuing bank on a google image search and compare. or find a local branch employee from that bank, make a copy of this statement and black out all identifying information and ask them if it looks like a legitimate statement from them.