I have a nephew with a young family that asked for some advice.  Seems their mortgage is now upside down and their mortgage payment has increased.  They wanted to know what to do.

The have tried to talk to the lender, but no response.

I told them that they have a few options.  Keep going with the minimum payment, try to short sell (but if the lender will not cooperate what good is that), walk away and rent somewhere else, or stop making their payment and eventually they will be contacted.

I don't much like the last option, but the lenders have put many people into a position to consider this option in order to get the conversation going. 

It is still not pretty out there, especially in California.