Would love to have a simple solution and get approvals right off the bat and out the door, off the books and everybody is happy.  However, while I agree with you here's the other side of the coin.  The Truth in Lending Act might have been violated.  Fraud, lending abuse, collusion and the banks are being asked by the Federal Government to step forward and look for modification before a short sale.  My clients are in default.  I'm in the business to selling but I'm also in the business of making sure that my client's rights weren't violated.  They reached out to their bank several times and no call backs.  So we faxed.  Then I got POA and I called and I faxed.  You know what?  The bank sent them a summons to their door yesterday and never returned one call, well, until last night when they tried reaching me but called my parents in Michigan and I'm in Illinois!  (Word to the wise, don't name your children after you).  Now, once a short sale is agreed, there is a due process of law that the banks have to follow to make sure that adequate notice, blah, blah, blah, you know the routine. 

I have another one on my desk where Grandma died but had a mortgage.  No one knew about it.  You know why?  Grandma didn't take the loan out! 

I would love for these babies to be accepted on a dime and get them off the table but I also believe that that would also be hurting us as it is the reverse side of the negative ARM program, etc .  We put people in homes in some of these programs that shouldn't have been out there to begin with yet we need to figure out the paper trail if title companies, mortgage brokers, banks, realtors, appraisers, attorneys had a repeat role that played an intrical part and some of that comes up once the property is broadcasted in the paper and then it's like exterminating a home, everything comes out of the woodwork.  I worked in a law firm during the oil crisis.  UCC's weren't filed and loans were continued to be made because the UCC's for the previous loans weren't recorded.  What we figured out was that some of the loan officers in these banks only went on vacation for one week at a time.  That wasn't long enough for the paper trail to be tracked.  When they were asked to go on vacation for two weeks "because they were working so hard", that's when the truth came out.

I think you have some really great ideas but the people behind the scenes are hourly employees that work 9 to 5 and don't give a rats nest about you or the file.  They are just doing a job because it puts food on their table.  However, and I mean this, there are some who do care but these files are so nasty and thick that the ones that have been brought into my office for me to review because I blog alot about consumer rights, etc., that it gives me nightmares.  There has to be some sort of process that will work but because of all the notices that legally have to be put in the paper, you should see what is coming out of the woodwork. 

I agree with you but I also know that we have to eliminate those who have repeated have been abusive with the financing and to look at the tier of problems and how can we eliminate these problems.  Greenspan has "somewhat" owned up to it but we've got a ways to go.