@BobKamman, it takes a rare breed to make me chuckle at tax scenarios! 😂

No secret; I didn't prepare last year. I requested 2018 thinking that the carryover loss happened then -- it didn't. Finally was able to procure 2017 from client, and lo and behold, that's where it occurred -- despite the fact that the client was then a RE professional and met both active and material participation standards. So, it appears the original carryover was invalid as @TaxGuyBill had speculated in his previous post... Joy!

The vacation rental is a "place at the lake," but has no owner use other than trips for repairs & maintenance. I, too, was initially skeptical, but he keeps copious logs of his repairs as well as all receipts; a welcome change from the norm! His average rental period is over 7 days, as they only do long-term rentals. Appears they deliberately structured it this way in order to keep it on their Schedule E. Why, I could not tell you.

Thank you for your thoughtful response and the chuckle! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!