My question is if there is any law/fire rule against locking the front door if they have another door and other paths of egress.

I was trying to find what the laws were in regards to whether or not we receive the non-refundable portion of the deposits paid by the tenant at move in.

Had to go back and add a ps...This info is for Las Vegas, your mileage may vary significantly in California with extra laws, fees, etc....

@Andrew Reyes and @Basit Siddiqi mentioned various factors of why this is happening, and the short version is: it is weird and confusing, thanks to our overly complicated tax laws. 

It takes a lot of practice, a lot of not responding right off the cuff when you have to deal with junk, but it does pay well if you can gain the respect of your tenants, and take care of their repairs whenever they call. 

@Damien Cox,@Bryan Chuchta is technically correct, but it may depend on the laws in your state.

Getting answers to those questions will determine the amount of capital reserves you'll need to bring in addition to the down payment, but I'd guess at a minimum you'll need $15k, which drop your returns to the single digits until you can increase rents.I'm not 100% sure of the legality of the county's laws regarding sun setting lots, but you could reach out to the state's manufactured housing association and potentially get the two lots back if you agree to infill them with new units. 

.)- If someone stops paying rent you may need to go through an eviction process- When screening tenants you need to do a thorough check of who you're renting to- There are several Fair Housing laws you need to be aware of when placing a tenantOften times, a PM company will even be able to cover their own cost by receiving the highest rental amount possible for your investment, most likely higher than you could by yourself due to the exposure and avenues they have for marketing.

I've been doing traditional buy/hold traditional investor for several years and I have little desire to continue finding  another12 month or "long term tenants".Observation #1:  Niche marketing.I've been want to to market to a specific clientele or target tenant (without violating discrimination laws).   

However, there is 2015 case law (Strobe v. 842-848 West Bradley Place Condo Assn) that states this rule/regulation is invalid if your declaration contains language that recognizes a unit owner’s right to lease without restriction.