Has anyone else experienced this?

Besides the obvious that your place could get gutted and cleaned out of anything valuable, there are a number of scams where your listing gets posted to Craigslist, someone else gets access (IE via your lockbox) and "rents" your property to unsuspecting victims.If you do collect fees electronically, don't use Paypal.

I see this as more of a moral question than anything else, but quite a large one that obviously is going to affect all sorts of decisions about all sorts of other things too.Its the interest charged that makes the whole thing crash every so often.

I send a simple private mess. some respond some don't.

Thank you, everybody, the common practice over here is that when tenants break the lease they do not expect the deposit back at all, but usually they leave some kind of mess behind, so they owe money anyways. 

Has anyone else ever went through the process of transfer of vehicle title if the owner cannot be located?  

@Temitope,  I’ve invested personally in several, looked at hundreds of offerings, and  interviewed hundreds of other investors on their experiences.Crowdfunding is just like anything else, and there are both good and bad opportunities.  

Anyone else interested in this?

Everything else was just guessing.

@Jake Parks - If you're pooling money together and providing a return for people/there is an expectation of profit for someone else and that other party is not involved in the decision making/management of the deal , then you are creating a security and the answer to your question is a resounding yes.The big thing you have in your favor with partnering up with family and friends is that you have a relationship with these people already and that's the biggest thing that the SEC is looking for.