Then he was going to have to declare bankruptcy.  

Chances are when you are able to declare an income you could expense the cost of the furnaces against the income and avoid paying taxes or perhaps even better get a return!

I would differentiate mine from the others in the neighborhood by doing something special like offer to pay for a Uhaul for a day for the move, or free TV with a one year lease contract (TV's are cheap now, but you could make it a tablet, or whatever),  or offer a one day certificate to the spa to rub out those sore muscles after the move, restaurant gift certificate, whatever appeals to you.  

Bernanke warned Congress on Wednesday that the United States could soon face a debt crisis like the one in Greece, and declared that the central bank will not help legislators by printing money to pay for the ballooning federal debt.

I was surprised how affordable this is.Yes, perhaps for the legal portion of the transaction and assuming the defaulting borrower doesn't declare a BK. 

For having it declared uninhabitable, that would be the city, but may create more problems. 

You can be fully transparent and declare you are not the owner.

If the property is ready to be rented and not in a state of disrepair, we declare it is being occupied for personal use.

I wish my rentals did that for me:) Holding the RE outside gives me cash flow every month, and once I take my legal deductions for taxes, insurance, maintenance, and depreciation I have little income to declare as taxable.

If your net worth is negative, you really don't have anything to lose... you simply declare bankruptcy.