If it’s too good to be true, chances are, it’s too good to be true.

That’s a pretty solid life lesson, which should certainly be applied to many things, especially when it comes to making a big decision like where you intend to lay your head at night.

Therefore, be weary of “homeowners” who offer to rent properties — that aren’t even theirs to market — for rockbottom prices. In fact, with the glut of foreclosed homes affecting just about every corner and neighborhood throughout the United States, the opportunities for scammers looking to dupe hard-working, honest folks increase exponentially.

Such is the case foreclosed homes being used to scam would-be renters. The scammers list foreclosed and/or vacant homes for rent, collect a down payment, typically online, and then disappear.

Rinse, wash, repeat and cheat.

A Keller Williams Realty agent from San Jose, Calif., explains how it’s done via the Seattle Times:
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Foreclosure.com today announced that the deadline to submit essays for its 2011 scholarship program has expired and that it will now begin the review process of the nearly 10,000 submissions received throughout the 10-month contest.

At the beginning of the year, the company challenged college students throughout the nation, regardless of major, to answer the following question:

“You have acquired $150,000 in cash to be used specifically for a distressed real estate purchase. Outline a detailed strategy that ensures the maximum return on investment, whether it is in terms of financial profit or personal satisfaction … or both.”

Entries, which were required to be original and be at least 800 words in length and no more than 2,000, came from far and wide across the United States, including University of Southern California (USC), Syracuse University, Duke University, Ohio State University (OSU) and Arizona State University (ASU), among others.

In total, the Foreclosure.com 2011 Scholarship Program tallied 9,636 essay submissions.

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“Like I always said, if I’m one of the top players in the game, pay me like I’m one of the top players in the game.”

– Terrell Owens

Former National Football League (NFL) wide receiver, Terrell Owens — who banked somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million in salary, excluding sponsorship/endorsement deals, throughout his colorful 14-year career on the gridiron — recently rid himself of a $2 million condominium located in Dallas, Texas.

However, Owens — who played for the Dallas Cowboys from 2006 to 2008 — had to negotiate a short sale, accepting $1.6 million (about a $400,000 shortfall) rather than losing the property to foreclosure. FOXSports.com reports that this isn’t the first time that the outspoken and controversial wideout has made a short sale play, selling off another property at a $56,000 loss not too long ago.

The six-time Pro Bowl selection, who cracked into the league back in 1996 with the San Francisco 49ers where he played eight seasons, has experienced major financial problems since his involuntary exit from the sport last year because of a knee injury. In fact, he barely avoided jail time a few months for failing to pay child support for his young daughter in Atlanta, Georgia.

Owens, 38, who trails only NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice in all-time career touchdowns and receiving yards, recently held a highly-publicized workout for NFL teams in an attempt to keep his career alive. Not a single team attended and Owens remains a free agent.

It seems as though not even Charlie Brown is safe from foreclosure these days.

Los Angeles Times reports that a traditional “Peanuts” holiday scene that has been a seasonal staple outside of a home in Costa Mesa, Calif., for 44 years will be interrupted this month because of foreclosure. The distressed homeowners, who “strategically” defaulted in 2010 to hoping to renegotiate the home loan, were evicted from the property in late November.

In lieu of the unfortunate circumstances, the community has rallied behind the family, as well as its Christmas tradition, and the local government has agreed to let volunteers decorate City Hall grounds with the displaced “Peanuts” gang. In addition, several supporters have created a “Save the Snoopy House Fund,” collecting donations to help reverse the foreclosure.

To check out the official Facebook and Twitter accounts and to get behind the cause click here and here.

The bank has indicated that it views foreclosure as a last resort and is “exploring multiple options on how to get his property back” to the original Snoopy homeowners.

Now that would be a real-life Charlie Brown Christmas story.

(Photo by Don Leach, Daily Pilot / December 7, 2011 via LATimes.com)

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The heated battle between Main Street vs. Wall Street has taken another twist, with the grassroots “Occupy” movement shifting its focus to the nationwide housing crisis.

In particular, protesters have vowed to help families who have lost their homes to foreclosure by taking the vacant properties back. It’s been described as a “natural next step” in the fight to highlight the alleged excesses and abuses of the United States financial system.

In addition to moving displaced/distressed families back into their homes, which is illegal because they no longer own them, the Occupy movement has vowed to “disrupt” public foreclosure auctions throughout the nation.