Proposed short sale changes [and will it matter]
There is a lot of buzz that the Obama Administration has finally stepped in with a program to help reduce foreclosures. One focus of the Treasury Department is to help streamline short sales (which are never short in the time it takes and don't always result in a sale).
As reported by Reuters, "The US Treasury on Monday set long awaited guidance on a plan for mortgage lenders to speed "short sales" of homes and other loan modification alternatives to stem a rising tide of foreclosures." (emphasis added) Read more.
Tom Vanderwell did an outstanding job of parsing the most important points of the Directive line by line.
And if you have the time, here is the 43 page Directive (pdf) in it's entirety.
But here is just one reason that the government should have bailed out the taxpayers instead of the banks. I must warn you, this is scary stuff (and a hat tip to Tom V for the link).