I believe they are worried that the tenants that owed were trying to get the service switched to a new name of a friend or kid (So they can start ruining their credit as minors) so they don't have to pay the previous bill.I sent over about 50 pages of documentation to verify ownership and the new tenancy (This property has a multi layer entity structure ownership which is why there was so much paperwork) but once they got enough info to believe they are new users it wasn't an issue.

If you both put up 50% of the money, you're in it together to win it together.There has to be trust, but you can and should hire an attorney to draft up legal documents if you're going to form a partnership.

You assignment fee is likely o be on the back of the HUD-1 (that's the settlement document) under the buyers side of expenses so they don't tend to even notice it.

Since it seems that we have had to follow up on everything (a good habit, we think), including the finalized HUD, what other important documents, etc. should we make sure that we have on hand?

Get or give a digital copy to/from the other party once the document is returned with it's stamp. 

Everyone should know how to acquire documents in their farm area and that can be done in a couple hours usually just by going to the courthouse and tracking things down within that system.Names of offices may be different too, as Jay mentioned the county survey office, we don't have one really that's in the loop, it begins at the Assessors Office getting the tax ID Number, from there, with that number you can get the plat map at the Planning and Zoning Office, with the plat number you can get the book and page of deeds at the Recorder's Office.

I paid a listing fee for legal documents and that was it to get started.

I had written up a little proposal about why lending to me would be beneficial to her and her husband (she is my landlord and the real estate business is kind of her thing), why lending to me is safe, as well as lay out a couple lending strategies.

I think combining both properties on one deed would be beneficial to any exit strategy.I know I came off harsh and apologize to @Shawn Holsapple for that, but it is definitely not a path I would choose. 

But later when my agent wanted to see the approval, she dismissed it and we found out it was only a receipt from the bank for the seller's documents.