John Lounsbury submits:
David Streitfeld has an interesting article this morning in The New York Times discussing the outlook for an increase in the number of housing short sales and government efforts to facilitate these. A short sale is one in which the lender agrees to accept a sale price less than the outstanding mortgage balance.
Short sales can be advantageous to both mortgagor (borrower) and mortgagee (lender). The credit impairment for the borrower is less than for a foreclosure. The lender can often recover more of the outstanding debt than by going through foreclosure. Even if the sales prices are comparable, the short sale occurs much more quickly and with significantly less attendant expense than do foreclosures and subsequent resale.