And it is just easier to develop relationships with people you see regularly.

My husband would like to demolish the garage and just have a concrete pad for parking where the garage was-- with reasons being that the garage is not usable for a car, the concrete pad would provide better parking than the driveway and renters like to fill garages with junk and then when they leave it's a mess to clean up . 

We purchased the house in June 2017 and had the carpets cleaned prior to the tenant moving in.

I, too, have connected with a few people via BP and other groups (ChooseFI, etc) and listen to the podcasts regularly.

I ask because up until about two years ago I owned a coin laundry (under the same LLC) in which I actively participated in (personally staffed, maintained, cleaned, collected funds, etc.), but did not draw any wages. 

Don't offer to take it out of his deposit because he may fail to turn the unit over in good condition and then you've lost all leverage.Pay the termination fee and sign a written agreeementAfter he vacates, inspect for cleaning and repairsApply the deposit and/or refund, as necessary

I primarily want to verify identity and criminal history.Since I can't run an application on the company, I usually charge a higher deposit of double or triple the rent or I will ask them to pay first, last, and deposit.I also try to negotiate a cleaning fee and use my professional cleaner after vacating. 

It's the clean method, but it is also complicated and expensive.The practical method is what you had in mind: split it 3-way.

I get access to houses before making offers to wholesalers, because the ones I've dealt with will not accept an option period - the EMD is nonrefundable, with the only exception being clean title. 

I understand it’s difficult to sue an LLC, however due to multiple late payments, non payments and bouncing checks from issued by the companyover the past year I strongly believe the company was using rental funds collected from my property for other interests as they could not regularly pay me.