Banks are not monoliths in home foreclosure situations. They really do want to work out a way for distressed borrowers to avoid foreclosure, even if they are in pre-foreclosure. But on average, loan officers are burdened with 800 case loads each and they don’t have a lot of time to deal with the emotions borrowers are experiencing.

The smartest borrowers take a dispassionate approach by hiring a loan modification firm. For of a fee of about $300, they are removing their own non-familiarity with bank terminology and their emotions from the equation. Instead, they are being about as savvy as anyone in this economy can be, hiring experts in real estate and lending laws, finance and negotiations to go to bat for them.

The results: A homeowner with a loan modification firm working on her or his behalf has a 93 percent chance of achieving better terms. The bank wins too, as does the neighborhood (many members of which are customers of the same bank) – fewer foreclosures overall keep up home values for everyone. None of these recast efforts depend on government intervention – the borrower can move immediately at fixing their situation.