Lawyers are good for legal questions, not necessarily real estate investing questions...To your first question, *some* REO sellers have 90-day resale restrictions, not all.

Effectively you are 50% owners but legally you are the owner (also for tax purposes-- i think).

1) ALWAYS get a detailed application. 2) Ask for references - landlord, personal and work related 3) Have THEM provide a current credit report - in my state that is legal - this way you create at least a "semi weeding-out" process right there.

I have no idea if there is a minimum number of units for legal reasons or if this practice would be legal in your area.

The legal ownership is not as important as your residency status on the house.

Shortly after doing so, my ERISA attorney made me aware of some investigations that the IRS and DOL were initiating into these types of products, and there was concern about whether they were legal or not.

And notice is legally required anyway, usually 30 days.If everything is paid up I shouldn't think you'd have any problem, only cooperation.

While the CPA is providing advice from a tax perspective, he won't know the legal implications of setting up a specific business entity.

If so then any amounts owed under that lien, including back dues, late fees, legal fees etc would all be satisfied by the auction proceeds.

I don't know if it is legal for them to do so or not in California, but it seems like an actual concern here.