The Court protects the beneficiaries of the Trust from being ripped off by a unscrupulous Trustee such as selling the Real property below market value to their girlfriend/boyfriend/business partner/etc...

More importantly, the effort has been made to shift more risk from the shoulders of end users to that of investors who paid cash and was not protected by non-recourse loans.

I have tried to do this the legal way to protect myself and I seem to just be spinning wheels.

There is the issue of rents and financials being manipulated, vacancy not being true or other misleading claims, but we'll skip that side.I don't know Lakewood, but I'd first protect my money by knowing my market, the local regulatory issues and code requirements.If you are going to invest as a slumlord, find out how life is with slumlords in your area.

IMO just because a deal is outside of the box doesn't mean it's a bad deal and I sometimes feel like, for some agents that I've worked with, if it doesn't fit into a standard, cookie cutter, every single day agreement -- it's wrong.I believe if everyone is transparent, if everyone knows the risk and there is a base level of protection is given in a deal-- then is a deal is a deal.

Record the mortgage to protect the investor.

To bring value to a landlord, you would need to offer systems and protections to remove those inherent issues on behalf of the landlord.

However they have been completely repainted and there is no peeling paint so if it is present it is encapsulated, so that is a reasonable approach to protecting my tenants IMO.

Basically, what I should be looking for.Many times note are sold during the BK process and some you buy and the borrower declares bankruptcy, my goal is to protect my position in all cases.

What protections do you have in case of default?