I'd like to legally be able to remove them from the lease.  

What items can I ask (or at least try) to remove from payoff ?

I would remove the bushes closest to the street to make the front yard look bigger.

And then we begin to add late fees which then we have to go back and remove when the rent shows up and is post marked within the grace period. 

I did give them a heads up the day before that I would be coming so I'm assuming they made provisions to remove the dog for the day.I don't have an issue with having 2 dogs as long as the 2nd dog meets the typical qualifications I had for the first dog (breed, temperament, etc). 

This way you can just deny them on those grounds before you run their background and essentially waste their money.

Can't comment on the Houston market, but we use property managers both in NYC and Raleigh - NYC as we're not there full time and Raleigh because the demands of my full-time job are too much for me to waste time self-managing.In both areas, I've gone through a process of interviewing several property management firms which has been a combination of me getting a "gut feeling" for how they work and getting specific questions answered. 

.- Remove Wood Burning Stove?

Some I felt were a waste of my time.

Wasting time and money with these loan scams can result in a real estate investor losing a property.