Make sure the HOA delinquency rate is below 15% and the complex is not in litigation because you will have a hard time to obtain financing.

Without that there was NO proof that you even had a deal and thus no indication that you should have been putting an additional dime into this deal.Second, the foreclosure case should have been examined to determine where in the civil case the two parties (plaintiff and defendant) were.Next, the sheriff should have been contacted to ensure that the property had not yet been scheduled for sale.

I'm 19 and a sophomore in college for civil engineering .

@Michael WarinnerI would say go back and get your degree in something related to real estate or finance.I'm a sophomore for Civil Engineering and have my RE license.

Objective is to safe guard you from any litigation.

There is also a vetting process that you can go through (you can actually look up open records with the civil court in your particular county) to see if any of the contractors have open cases against them. 

Graduated from UCF Fall of 2015 with a degree in Civil Engineering.

I am leaning toward setting up an LLC since we will be having others rent and I want to protect ourselves from possible litigation.

Cops wont do anything....civil matter.     

The property is currently the subject of litigation and is subject to a deed of trust.