After working in the short sale arena for a while I could tell this was happening. People thought that with the stimulus of billions of dollars the process would get easier. Not so and the following excerpt from the 10/09/09 Business Week supports this view: " Banks are backing away from short sales, forcing sellers to pay extra at closing or demanding a promissory note for the amount due. " "When their situations were really tough, most banks preferred short sales because they were their best opportunity to get the most money back. But with an improving economy, and because the losses on many of these properties have already been written off the books, banks are increasingly reluctant to negotiate a short sale." So, not only are the banks dragging out the inevitable end for many homeowners that just want to start over with their lives, but the people working on these files for realtors and homeowners are increasingly frustrated with less than successful results. "Today, banks demand 9.5 weeks to respond to a short-sale request compared to 4.5 weeks a year ago, according to research firm Campbell Communications. The banks’ reluctance is frequently stymieing sales and frustrating real estate practitioners." Bottom line, work with pros if you want to avoid a foreclosure and do a short sale. SP