That is a fair question. The public perception is that all of these bad mortgages are as a result of greed by the lenders and by the borrowers alike. However the reality is that most financial institutions have already taken the financial “hit” as a result of the decrease in value of mortgages that now exceed the current value of properties they are secured by. What is left is the need to have the “ funeral ” for these dead mortgages. That funeral process involves the foreclosure of the mortgage, the eviction of the occupants, and the ultimate resale to owner occupants who meet current underwriting mortgage standards and are paying the current market value of real estate. These “reborn” mortgages and now good investments for the banks and also for secondary market investors. The fact of the matter is that a first mortgage on an owner-occupied home always has been and continues to be a solid financial product. The reality is that the first payment most responsible people make is on their mortgage because the home is the central necessity. As a result of many factors including governmental efforts to help people avoid or cushion the foreclosure tragedy, the “funerals” are being delayed and until that process can be completed a healthy economy is also being delayed. The short sale is a mechanism in order to speed that process. In order to incentivize the parties involved in the process the plan provides financial incentives by providing $1500 to homeowners to help them defray relocation costs, the investor gets $1000, the mortgage servicer gets $1000 and second lien holders can receive up to $3000. This is actually a win-win situation for all of the parties involved because the cost of foreclosure ultimately lessens the return to the investor and generally the second lien holder gets nothing if the foreclosure goes through. Also the homeowner gets some money to help them move out and move on. After this process occurs, a broker gets to sell the property, a homeowner gets an opportunity to get into a new home, a bank gets the opportunity to make a good new first mortgage and local contractors, home improvement stores, nurseries and the myriad of providers of products to homeowners get new business and as a result of all of that the economy gets turned around and we all benefit from that.