One of the many things that I love about my job as Foreclosure.com Director of Education is to deliver great news!

And that is exactly what I had the opportunity to do last week when we announced the winners of the 2011 Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program. The five winners — one grand prize and four runners up — were selected out of almost 10,000 applicants located throughout the United States. Our $5,000 grand prize winner was a freshman from Parsons — The New School in New York, N.Y., Cindy Clinton.

You can watch the video of our recent conversation above.

Cindy is a delightful, smart and witty woman who I enjoyed interviewing. She mentioned that she had seen our scholarship on FastWeb.com and had made a note to herself to apply before the deadline. I am always impressed when I see an organized young students who have plans and then work those plans.

If you are an undergraduate student and are looking for scholarships then you should not miss out on our 2012 topic. We are now in the process of accepting applications and the deadline is December 1, 2012. I would love to interview you this time next year!

Let’s see what you’ve got.

To read Cindy’s winning essay visit the Foreclosure.com Article Center right here. For more on the Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program, as well as to view the 2012 topic and eligibility/submission requirements, click here.

More than 10,000 current college students nationwide answered the call during the 2011 Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program, submitting essays of 800 to 1,000 words or more that answered the following question:

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

Cindy Clinton, a freshman at Parsons – The New School located in New York, N.Y., however, was voted to the head of the class by our panel of third-party judges, winning the $5,000 top prize.

“I am so grateful and excited to have been chosen,” said Cindy. “It is very challenging funding a higher education. Therefore, I thank Foreclosure.com for assisting students in achieving their goals by providing this scholarship. This award is a great financial help, putting me one step closer to fulfilling my dream of becoming a fashion designer. So, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The program, which ran from Jan. 31 to Dec. 1, 2011, also awarded four $1,000 scholarships to the contest semifinalists (in alphabetical order):

• Glenn Bonadio from El Paso, Texas, attending El Paso Community College
• Zachery Eberl from Seattle, Wash., attending University of Washington
• Mishay Kalan from Washington D.C., attending Georgetown University
• David Katz from Los Angeles, Calif., attending University of Southern California

In addition to the five cash prizes in the form of scholarships, these winning entries will be featured on Foreclosure.com. To read Cindy’s winning essay visit the Foreclosure.com Article Center (www.foreclosure.com/articlecenter/foreclosure-com-scholarship-program-2011-winning-essay/). Essays from the other four semifinalists will soon be added to the website.

“The submissions continue to get better every year and our judges have met the task of picking exceptional essays,” said Foreclosure.com Director of Education, Linda Yates. “It was exciting to see how creative the essays were in response to this year’s topic and to get a glimpse into the applicants’ individual strategies and thought processes.”

In addition to all the students who responded, Foreclosure.com would like to acknowledge the esteemed panel of judges who selected the five finalists:

• Susan Wachter, University of Pennsylvania
• Michael Kraten, PH.D., CPA, Sawyer Business School at Suffolk University
• Maureen Kraten MBA, CMC, Sacred Heart University

“Thank you to all of our judges for their time and hard work,” said Yates. “We appreciated their dedicated service to this program.”

Yates indicated that the company has already announced the 2012 Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program, which will once again run for the entire year until Dec. 1, 2012. To read the new topic, as well as learn more about the eligibility/submission requirements, visit the Foreclosure.com scholarship page (www.foreclosure.com/scholarship).

Foreclosure.com introduced its scholarship program in 2009. Since that time, the company has awarded 15 deserving college students throughout the United States with a total of $27,000 in scholarship money.

If you aren’t as on track as you’d hoped, you are definitely not alone. Making big changes in your life can seem overwhelming, especially when it comes to your finances.

And getting overwhelmed throws many people off track.

Don’t let it happen to you! Now is the time to pursue your real estate investment goals and recommit to growing your wealth through foreclosures, short sales, bankruptcies, rent-to-own homes and more.

Yes, now is the time to recommit, but not only now. Success in life takes courage and perseverance. Recommit to your goals not just once or twice, but every single day. You’ll be amazed at the changes that come your way if only you can focus on your goals!

The January 2012 edition of Foreclosure.com’s free educational newsletter, “Investment Exchange,” is now available, which shows you you the way to a 2012 paved with real estate wealth.

Articles include:

• Site Feature Spotlight: 2012 scholarships for undergraduates
• Website Search Tips: Find foreclosures FREE!
• Hot Off The Press: Real Estate’s latest trend, rent-to-own homes
• Our Success Stories: James Gage on smart real estate investing
• Real Estate Tips: How to get started investing in real estate
• Deals of the Month: Hot foreclosure deals!
• Linda’s Learning Lane: Focus on Wealth

There has never been a more perfect time to invest in distressed real estate. The housing market is inundated with foreclosures and short sales. Interest rates are at all-time lows. Prices are at the lowest we are likely to see in this lifetime.

Don’t miss out on these tremendous opportunities!

To read this month’s free educational newsletter from Foreclosure.com CLICK HERE.

The United States government was initially slow to respond, failing to recognize the magnitude of house of cards (pun intended) that was about to collapse. Eventually, several housing/foreclosure assistance programs, along with their requisite acronyms, were gradually rolled out over time.

Not a single one, or all of them in combination, however, have had their intended impact on recovery. Not yet, anyway.

In fact, in a recent Gallup Poll, 58 percent of Americans want the government to do more to prevent additional foreclosures. In contrast, 34 percent of Americans are against increasing government intervention and prefer that “housing market resolve its problems in its own.”

The complete study, which you can view right here, is more detailed, drawing distinctions between political parties, annual incomes and college graduates.

The good news is that Gallop reports that collective confidence about the national economy, as well as the job outlook, is on the rise. And well all know, people must have jobs and earn incomes to be able to afford houses.

That’s something that just isn’t happening right now, with only 66 percent of those polled owning their primary residences. That ties a 66 percent all-time low.

To read more about the government-backed foreclosure/housing assistance programs — HAMP, HARP, 2MP and HAFA — currently in place click here.

Such is the curious case of Wise Ahadzi, a single father with two young girls, who vacated his house in Brooklyn, N.Y., when he could no longer afford to pay the mortgage. He apparently didn’t realize that he could remain in the home until the foreclosure was complete. In fact, the lender has recently confirmed that he is still the rightful owner of the property until the foreclosure process has run its full course.

Meanwhile, “Occupy” members targeted his house and vowed to fix it up and move in a new family, looking make a bold statement against the major financial institutions that the movement blames for the current economic crisis in the United States.

Ahadzi, according to the New York Post, was “livid” when authorities alerted him about the situation. He’s since pleaded with the protesters to fight for him, since you know, it is his house, but he was told “he doesn’t qualify” for assistance because he is not homeless — he moved to a “meager” two-bedroom apartment nearby while he sorted out his “mortgage nightmare.”

Unreal.

It’s unclear why authorities have not removed the protesters from the home and restored it to Ahadzi.

Regardless, Ahadzi is now fighting a two-front battle: Evicting the illegal squatters who laid claim to his property and negotiating a potential resolution on a mortgage in default to save a house in which other people illegally live.

And there’s no guarantee, when all is said and done, that he can win them both, if any at all.

Bizarro.

Simpson — who was charged with her murder, but ultimately was found innocent after the “Trial of the Century” concluded — is facing foreclosure on the five-bedroom Miami, Fla., home that he purchased back in 2000 for $575,000.

To see Simpson’s preforeclosure listing on Foreclosure.com click here.

In an odd twist, the lender apparently attempted to serve Simpson “on a daily basis” with foreclosure papers; however, “Juice” is currently locked up behind bars in a Nevada prison, “serving a nine-to-33-year prison sentence in a 2007 armed confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas casino hotel room.”

According to the report from FOXSports.com, the attorneys for the former Buffalo Bills running back are attempting to have the foreclosure case dismissed. It’s unclear who is living in the house while Simpson rides out his jail term and/or what he intends to do with the property if he can rescue it from repossession.

Stay tuned.

The subject of the 2012 Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program is as follows:

“What creative solutions, programs and/or initiatives to stimulate the United States housing market, as well as to turn the foreclosures tide, must a presidential candidate outline/promise to earn your vote? Feel free to include your very own original stimulus plan and/or ideas in your response, which can also be used to enhance existing platforms from candidates and/or other influential thought leaders.”

Foreclosure.com, which received a record-setting amount of entries (nearly 10,000) from students throughout the nation during its scholarship program in 2011 alone, will accept written essays/plans (800-word minimum, 2,000-word maximum) through its website (www.foreclosure.com/scholarship/) from Jan. 1, 2012, to Dec. 1, 2012.

Five winners will be selected by a third-party panel of judges at the conclusion of the contest and will share $9,000 in allotted scholarship funds. The top prize is a $5,000 scholarship and four $1,000 grants will be awarded to the runners up.

“This scholarship program has impacted the lives of the recipients, enhancing their career goals and educational pursuits,” said Linda Yates, Foreclosure.com Director of Education. “With scholarships lessening and disappearing this scholarship has been growing — our applications have increased year-over-year and the competition has grown more fierce. We look forward to continuing that trend in 2012.”

In addition to the five cash prizes in the form of scholarships, totaling $9,000, these solutions will be featured on Foreclosure.com for the entire year. All students must read and agree to the scholarship rules, which are located on the Foreclosure.com contest page (www.foreclosure.com/scholarship), before submitting their entries for review.

“It’s an election year, so we wanted the topic to reflect the thoughts and concerns of our nation,” said Yates. “The housing industry is still trying to recover and the creativity of college students across the nation may be the catalysts to provide solutions that will help the entire economy.”

Foreclosure.com introduced its scholarship program in 2009. Since that time, the company has (or will) award(ed) 15 deserving college students throughout the United States with a total of $27,000 in scholarship money.

For complete details and submission requirements/instructions for the 2012 Foreclosure.com Scholarship Program visit www.foreclosure.com/scholarship.

What’s that mean?

It means that if you are considering a short sale and/or foreclosure the time to act is yesterday. That’s because the amount a lender forgives on a primary residence will be taxable on federal income taxes the second the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, 2013.

Indeed, banks must sign off on a deal, as well as agree to release the distressed homeowner from the debt/shortfall before Dec. 31, 2011.

Currently, under the five-year plan, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) “allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence…. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualifies for the relief.”

In 2013?

Sun-Sentinel breaks it down:

” … if a house sold $50,000 short of what is owed on the mortgage, then the selling homeowners will owe federal income taxes on that $50,000. Homeowners would owe $12,500 in they’re in the 25 percent bracket; $7,500 if in the 15 percent tax section. Homeowners would be on the hook even if the house sold but the bank had not formally forgiven the loan in a letter.”

Yuck.

With short sales taking perhaps several months to complete, if not longer, underwater homeowners — or those on the fence — should make their decisions sooner rather than later to avoid Uncle Sam hitting them hard on their taxes.

There’s no word at this time if the debt relief act will be extended again or modified to include “pending” short sales as the deadline approaches.

Stay tuned.