(My gut tells me this company is so nice and professional that there is nothing to worry about, but I am a newb, not an idiot, so these steps will be taken.)I have attempted to begin educating myself by reading books on private lending, etc, but I would be interested in connecting with someone, again, likely an attorney, who can help me avoid problems and walk me through the process for the first time.  

On top of that, the law in almost every state requires us to mitigate our damages and attempt to re-rent the property, so we can't even hold them responsible for the full balance of the lease.  

You’ll need $20-$50k cash to even attempt it, on top of financing. 

They won't violate any of your rules except by accident (failing to pay rent because they forgot) but she's too old to have a malicious bone in her body.

If you don't agree to the new terms, the original agreement would remain in full force and effect.If there has been a shakeup at the company and your contract was procured by the person or people forming the new PM entity, that would be a reason for them to attempt to pull you over to the new company as a client and get you to agree to make future payments to them. 

One last thought... if this is your primary residence you can sometimes get away doing to work yourself, although please know what you are doing before attempting any electrical work or wiring as mistakes can be deadly.

So California and Oregon will probably have less and less affordable rental housing as these poorly executed attempts to protect renters just exacerbate the problem.

I’m looking at a house and attempting to figure out the ARV.

I see they are just lumping it in with the "security deposit no greater than 1 month rent" rule, but anyone I've consulted with does not consider the pet deposit associated with the security deposit -- a slippery attempt to disassociate the two deposits. 

You would also have 3 units worth of rental income + however many units are in the project you are attempting to purchase.