This suggests that they are going to hang on to the tradeline on the books and service it themselves.

I know several of the MFH in that part of Roseville have those 1950s oil burning furnaces, they are at their service life, so it dies it dies.Also, you will need to put in Central Air I would guess.I get $850 and $725 for my units.  

build up some vacancy reserves.

We did pay the lawyer and servicing fees of around $1000.

Chances are extremely high that the Paul Davis, Servpro's, and Service Master's, etc. in your area do program work and are not independent.If I was in your position, I'd hire 2 independent firms who are certified by the IICRC in Fire & Smoke Restoration (FSRT certification) but ideally, have a Master Fire & Smoke Restoration certification.

Now for the good news: if you're simply acting as a rental collection service, or Contractor who handles repairs - you're fine without Licensing.

Did you encounter any opposition or criticism of their services from an attorney or accountant?

Considering this, you need to make sure that you have sufficient money reserves to cover any unexpected repairs that creep up (they always do).  

However, you still have closing costs to pay for and lenders will still want you to have reserves.

It was offered to a relative of mine as payment for services rendered, meaning we risk losing nothing here.