Kudos and congrats to you for taking action.

When I first applied I estimated my home value at 390k which would give me a line of credit of 62k at an 80% loan to value ratio. (390k x 0.8 - mortgage balance)The appraisal came back at 420k which great news however when I requested that the limit be moved up to 80% LTV of the appraisal amount (86k) I was told that the loan commitment had already expired so in order to get up to 86k it would need to be a new application and also I would not get the promotional interest rate of 1.99% for the first year.

Good news is that you're receiving around $350 a month in principal reduction.

You should probably engage an attorney to figure out your best course of action.

I've seen many newbie investors whose first action is creating an LLC and all they did was waste money and didn't realize that they could not get agency debt within their LLC.

Educate yourself as you go, but the most important step in this process is to TAKE ACTION!

currently a senior in college. been reading bp books, attending webinars, listening to podcasts, and trying to learn as much as possible. going to do a house back once i graduate. what are steps i should be taking now...

You could make it clear that not paying may result in legal action and a judgement against them that could impact them renting, major purchases, or getting married.

So my question is what is the best course of action: 1) Give notice to vacate after X days if the rental agreement isn't signed?

Sounds like you may still be in the information gathering stage, but if you're looking for networking and action to get your first deal, you may want to check out the rookie bootcamp.