I have done this many times to obtain items such as warranties and surveys

Title insurance won't cover that, you need to clear the taxes before any loan can be obtained for rehab and I wouldn't rehab a place with tax liens pending, involuntary liens have a way of discouraging others to get involved, contractors, material suppliers, lenders, not to mention that taxes may need to be cleared before a building permit might be issued! 

The golden answer you're looking is how long will it take you to qualify for the loan amount needed to secure the property.Once you have this information, I'd submit an offer for owner finance with inspection contingencies, a little bit of earnest money, and the terms (down payment, interest rate, who pays 3rd party fees to collect payments from you/distribute to the owner, term used for payment, how long you have to obtain other financing, balloon payments etc.  

So how does one try and obtain this to sell or wholesale or buy and hold thats why i posted this to see if anyone has or knows how to get a property from these buyers of nonperforming notes

Now I'm am looking to obtain my RE License.

@Brian Adams @Rob BelandWith the equity partners, do I need to, have a separate agreement with each partner; form an LLC, trust, and make each partner a board member/part-owner; and not to be too convoluted but, what if each partner couldn't obtain a mortgage on their own and or was unable to provide tax returns, however the funds contributed were seasoned?

In my state, the insurances required (workman's comp, etc.) to obtain a contractor's license is significantly higher than in most other states. 

There are several ways to obtain a good return on your investment. 

The other question becomes are we getting sideways with any legal requirements as we obviously don't want to open ourselves up to these kind of potential issues.I also assume that we would reduce our homeowners insurance to a structural only kind of policy and allow them to obtain a renters insurance policy of their choosing? 

@Justin Ashton I would continue to work on building your credit up so that you are able to obtain the best financing available for you when you go to purchase.