MORTGAGE HOME LOANS:The Modification Mystery

Late last week the US Congress passed President Obama's Stimulus Package which he is supposed to sign on Tuesday, following the President's Day holiday. According to those who claim to know,this will now make it easier for the Obama Adminidtration to begin to turn the US and by extension,the world's economy around.
However,it seems,no one will go on record to say when the economy will turn around, or indeed,even if it will - thus, there is no time line or even a time horizon,to use the nomenclature of the recent past administration. nevertheless, the general concensus on main street is; the hope that it should happen in a twelve to eighteen months.
While we all continue to wait and hope across America, and as we discuss the pros and cons of the historic passage of this Bill and what it will mean for us,homes continue to be lost to foreclosure action,jobs continue to be lost to austerity and even businesses continue to close their doors because of the impact of the recesssion,even as States struggle to provide necessary services and balance their Budgets.
As home values correspondingly continue their downward spiral,homeowners must decide, now, what they should do about their mortgages. Should they seek to modify and restructure,should they consider a short sale accomodation with their Lender/Bank and a potential Buyer,or should they simply,as others have done,just walk away from their homes.
Added in the mix is the confusion homeowners are finding in the modification messages that bombard them daily on TV, the Radio and the Mail,by sundry services proclaiming they have the right solution for the homeowners' mortgage dilemma.
Why should the homeowner pay for this service - should they even pay at all?Is this something the already struggling can do for themselves? How honest is this provider? Are they in it only to make a buck,or do they genuinely feel the homeowner's pain? What about the Lender/Bank - how concerned are they about the homeowner's plight? What effort are they making to facilitate the homeowner who is applying directly to them for assistance to restructure and modify their mortgage loan.
It has been reliably reported that some Lender/Banks have been refusing to consider the applications of homeowners if they are not behind on their mortgage payments, and even then there is procrastination and foot-dragging on their part.Should we now believe that homeowners,victims already, of the system and the economic downturn that was created,should deliberately wreck their good credit profile in order to get the attention of the Lender/Banks that actually placed them in this awful loan?
The alternative the homeowner has is to pay some high-priced lawyer to represent them in their effort to get the attention of the Lender/Bank to acceed to the applications of the homeowner seeking home mortgage relief.
As this is going on,more jobs are being lost,more homes are lost and more "for sale" signs appear on your neighbor's' lawn down the street....and the beat goes on...