I get a kick out of everybody reading the foreclosure notices in the paper, and some even paying for lists of these notices. The they go, "Ooooh! So-and-so is in foreclosure! Oooooh!"

It doesn't seem to occur to them that if So-and-so wants to modify their loan with their bank, then they have to let their property go into foreclosure. There's no "Oooooh!" about it.

Isn't this a sorry state of affairs, the thought process (or lack of thought process) of the banks? "You're upside-down? Your income has been drastically reduced? Then you have to go into serious default and totally screw up your credit just to get into a position where we'll talk to you about us getting real about the situation!"

Sigh.