Paying off debt or saving for a larger down payment will help smooth some bumps in the road toward your mortgage as well.

Do you come under massive debt or does the hard money lender take the property from you?

Is it cheaper to use the contractor's money than your current debt or equity?  

It is illegal for a person to make any false statement regardingincome, assets, debt, or matters of identification, or to willfully overvalue any land or property, in a loanand credit application for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of a financial institution.Some of the applicable Federal criminal statutes which may be charged in connection with MortgageFraud include:18 U.S.C. § 1001 - Statements or entries generally18 U.S.C. § 1010 - HUD and Federal Housing Administration Transactions18 U.S.C. § 1014 - Loan and credit applications generally18 U.S.C. § 1028 - Fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents18 U.S.C. § 1341 - Frauds and swindles by Mail18 U.S.C. § 1342 - Fictitious name or address18 U.S.C. § 1343 - Fraud by wire18 U.S.C. § 1344 - Bank Fraud42 U.S.C. § 408(a) - False Social Security Number

Can anyone shed some light on the new lending regulations surrounding student loan debt or direct me to where I can read the new requirements?

Many of these owners have properties in states that require a judicial foreclosure process, and the judiciary is very pro debtor.  

If I can make it worth your while I will.I've sent one to trustee's sale with a deceased debtor before.

While "loan purpose" can make a loan against a homestead the proceeds of which are used for a business purpose a commercial loan, I'd hate to argue the case in a "liberal" or debtor friendly court.Bill Gulley is as usual correct in his analysis; the bottom line is why take on the risk, hassle and potentially negative outcome.

I would think a lender would be more secure with an LLC as the debtor along with three guarantors rather than a single individual borrower.  

Not trying to be inflammatory, but I'd be very surprised if the HML industry survives the disruption that's beginning with the crowd funding sites.If you've got net worth, money to invest, and want to hold real estate debt (or equity), look at PatchOfLand or RealtyShares or any of the others.