That being said, I read some (old) reviews that said payments had been hung up (withdrawn from the tenant but not deposited into the landlords bank account longer than 10 days) and customer support was ZERO and their 'ticket' program kept automatically closing out the ticket request without resolution.

If you're not familiar with depreciation, read this detailed explanation: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...Depreciation will lower your net income and, accordingly, lower your taxes.

You'll likely find many in this community willing to share their knowledge, especially with a mutual benefit like that.Start by reaching out to local real estate investment groups or networking events in DFW, as well as connecting with folks here on BiggerPockets who have experience in your target market.

The definition includes, but is not limited to: Negotiating, promoting, or advertising the sale, exchange, purchase, or rental of real property, or the granting or acceptance of an option to sell, exchange, purchase, or rent an interest or estate in real estate or a time share.

I am no expert (hence posting here) but the bit that I have read seems to indicate that if the business is located in CA and operating in CA (as is the case since the property is in CA), the business is likely to fall under CA laws in the event of an issue. 

There are over 20 other real estate accountants on this site.

I’m from the Houston area and imagine many in this group are!.  

I am curious to learn more about this.

How would you handle this case and future cases?

Is there somewhere on my federal return where I could find this info?