I would accept whatever rent he offers you, however, he is still not in compliance until the late fee is paid, which still justifies reason to proceed with eviction.  

I understand not wanting to go through a bank, that's for sure - but I also have a hard time justifying the extra interest of hard money when there's another option.

Where's the problem.The problem is that 46% of US citizens don't have a passport .... which makes that policy indirectly discriminatory .... go ask an attorney next time.When an applicant refuses to produce SSN to help me evaluate their creditworthiness I make an immediate demand for evidence of their ability to travel internationally.If I wanted to discriminate against US citizens that is exactly what I would do and I would justify with  the same arguments that people use to justify discriminating against Blacks, Latino's, immigrants and anybody else that they don't rent to. 

You could justify an increase to cover the extra utilities being used.  

Fees should be clearly stated, easy to understand, and justifiable.

My biggest problem is the upfront cost but you have found a way to get it financed as well as we have low utility costs in KY so it is harder to justify the upfront costs. 

It would also be tough to justify your rate of $55 a night without every actually running it as a STR. 

Justify your case as to why it's important to you.

I was taught to believe that 10% is the minimum, but maybe there are cases when someone can buy a property that produces 9% ROI and that property has low rents in comparison to others in the same neighborhood, thereby justifying a rent increase to bring up the ROI, or a drop in Expenses.

While others may disagree, I think a 20-unit is more than enough to justify creating a new LLC. 7.