Personally, I couldn't take someone for that much of a ride cuz of those "having a conscious" "problem" lol but I do know those types of situations happen regularly enough in all aspects of business :/ We do not have those types of advertisements around my way but that is an interesting way to help push a deal through, w/ a majority of the happiness being spread around.

I currently work on the side doing estate sales on eBay while working to finish my degree in Biology / environmental science.

You may need a phase 1 environmental assesment.

My wife and I made the conscious decision to not pay the co-signed bills because they exceeded several hundred thousand dollars and instead we negotiated and paid what we could and what we couldn't the statute of limitations has either run or it was written off and we had to pay taxes on it.

However, the general essence of the environmental portion of the real estate salesperson's class was more like "If you live in a house with lead paint, you will die.

@Caroline Gerardo serious question: If this is case then how does anyone buy anything that has a potential environmental liability with it?

When you perform a deal from a viewpoint of honesty and fairness, not only will everyone be rewarded, your conscious will be at ease. 

I also targeted auto repair facilities with environmental problems, and two of my most profitable buys were easily fixed environmental problems nobody else would touch.

This has to be a conscious decision, and generally I advise against it, but some owners insist...Trying to run a rooming house, OTOH, is a giant pain... you have personality conflicts to deal with on top of "normal" rental issues.

@Marc Oister,  Before you start down the road of financing you may want to consider if you may have some environmental issue that will prevent financing or would require a purchase/rehab loan (i.e., 203K).You stated that the property has extensive mold.