I don't know exactly how that works and if that can really prevent her from selling her house so I didn't know what to say to her other than I was going to find out if I could help her in any way. 

Hoping someone can help me give advice to my friend.She is looking to buy her first house in Wisconsin. It is an old farmhouse in central Wisconsin, currently occupied. As it is in a rural area, it has a septic fiel...

This prevents the buyer from seeing the assignment fee. 

Not having all this discussed and agreed upon up front is how many partnerships end up in disaster --- although, having it does not prevent it... 

Utilizing experts’ knowledge can prevent you from buying the wrong investment property, one with maintenance, location and even legal issues.Read this article for detailed information https://www.forbes.com/sites/f...All the best!

They would charge less than $400 a month, have a solid lease, know the law, know the market, can deal with difficult situations quickly to prevent them from growing, etc.

Mail the air filters to the Tenants and make them change them.Your current method is OK for a few rentals, but it's not going to scale and I have to question the cost:benefit of it all.A traditional property management company doesn't have an incentive to perform preventative maintenance or to keep tenants happy, while the self-managed property owner has both. 

How to prevent this kind of potential damage/trouble ?  

It's part of the game, always better to be preventative!

Can I still file for an eviction to help prevent this from happening again?