Deductions & credits

 This is a case of "cutting off your nose to spite your face" ... in other words to get a few $$ of home office deduction you have to convert a passive activity reported on a Sch E to a business reported on a Sch C and then pay SE taxes on the profits on top of the federal  & state.  If the rentals are already running at an overall loss then the home office deduction is useless.