@Nick Ferrari-  If you own the house and are looking to refinance it, then you don't have to do anything but collect 75%-80% of the appraised value at the refinance. 

Now that it has been over a year since this incident with no news from the ex-tenant, I am considering to work either through a Collection Agency or a Law Firm to collect the owed money.

So if for example I agree to give the seller 10k option deposit, I might collect 25k from the tenant/buyer.

How much of a security deposit are you allowed to collect? 

I am not sure that you could collect from the tenant as they sound judgment proof.

I am wanting to owner finance the deal so i can collect the total sell price of the land and home plus interest. ( I do not want to offer rent to own) I have buyers waiting on me to finish figuring out my side.

Collecting rents and letting it go into default might be a criminal act.

I just used a realtor for placement then collected the rent.. and had a good handy man.. of course like I said these homes I bought brand new so not much went wrong and easy to rent.Now if you go into the older areas of Jackson or Hinds county you for sure want to be very picky on where you buy.

Then I learned there are extra charges for collecting payments online. 

They might not be comfortable with you collecting the rents but atleast seeing the day to day stuff and the budgeting so you see where the expenses are.