You Haven't Foreclosed Yet- I Still Own It, I Can Sell Everything in it if I want to!

This morning I heard the story about a married couple- a cop and real estate agent in CA that lost their house to foreclosure. They were so furious that they totally trashed the house inside and out, cut trees down, stuffed toilets with garbage, painted graffiti on all the walls, knock holes in walls with sledge hammer, ruined all tile flooring, sold appliances, cabinets, doors, and whatever else that had value, etc, etc.

The cop has since resigned, and I doubt if the agent can ever survive in this business again? They are both facing long jail time now. How stupid of them to destroy their lives and careers because of a foreclosure.

Anyway, I had someone here in VA tell me not long ago that anyone facing foreclosure or short sale can sell everything in their house if they wanted to, because they still own it, and there is nothing the bank can do about it if they trash it and sell everything.

So the questions I have are : Suppose these same owners weren't facing foreclosure. Can they legally sell all of the appliances, cabinets, etc and also paint whatever they want on the walls, knock stone off the fireplace, knock holes in the walls, and do whatever they want to the house?

At what point after they stop making payments would they not be able sell whatever they wanted to, and not be able to paint whatever they want on the walls? Would it matter if they did it before a foreclosure notice, or after a foreclosure notice? Don't they still own the property even if they are 3+ months behind on payments?