Agree with Jon, you need to get clear on what normal practice and what market rent is for your area. 

I was originally under the impression that this practice was illegal, but I was told that you can get around this by acquiring the apartments under an LLC.

You should also practice your elevator pitch on your business.  

In working with investors as an agent, the same professional business practices you use for your buyer and seller clients apply.

But my suggestion to you is that although the law allows certain remedies for you, the practical solution might be different.  

Anyways, I was driving home tonight after picking up my kids from swimming practice and my phone rang.  

But this one is something I don't agree with, because I think it creates larger problems because the tenant doesn't want to pay for repairs.I get the reasoning behind the deductible, it just doesn't make practical sense to me.

I would love to hear any stories about your experience putting her described methods into practice by contacting banks directly, in particular for commercial multifamily (30+ units), either REOs or NPN.

That's standard practice everywhere and Trenton should be no different.

The loan, now unsecured, stands alone on its merits for the lender to determine if legal or practical to attemp collection from other assets of the debtor.