If you need to sell in say 5 years that bigger house in the better neighborhood will sell faster every time over the house on the hill.I am not an expert on landscaping, but I assume there is some type of erosion or prevention that needs to be fixed on that property.  

The main potential issue I see is the chimney/chase being a fire enclosure with minimum clearance requirements around the flue pipes to prevent combustible materials from overheating/possibly catching fire as well as to prevent fire from traveling through the building, so NEC code violations aside it may be a fire code violation to add anything into that space. 

I just need to know exactly what I need to do to prevent this from happening one because I will be missing out on a pretty nice payday as this property is over 1M and as I emphasized my work is never for free.

I assume so since the animal is supporting his/ her needs and preventing him from being a problem child?

My question is this how would one propose 1) A new rate and secondly, if the lease agreements are now month to month, here in Minneapolis are their guidelines in place that would prevent me from increasing this rate to a more landlord friendly price point.

Obviously stopping the water source is important, but also conditioning the space is truly the only way to prevent it from coming back in the future since crawlspaces are open to the exterior elements. 

A tax expert will be worth their fee in tax savings as well as headaches that they prevent for you! 

I would focus on preventive maintenance before winter and try to head off problems before they happen.

I know that the DIY test kits have to sit in a spot over a few days and my husband fears that the owner might move the tests to prevent mold from showing up. 

To prevent the issue from arising we emphasize the "joint and severally liable" clause in the lease, which means all the tenants are collectively responsible for the lease.