Here's a quick note in passing about the present foreclosure rate in the country, note again that just because someone is underwater doesn't make them eligible for loan modification:

The Congressional Oversight Panel overseeing the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) issued a report in December concluding that the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which is funded largely by TARP, will prevent only a fraction of the projected 8 million to 13 million foreclosures anticipated in the next four or more years.

The report concluded that the HAMP program is not designed to address foreclosures caused by unemployment or to significantly reduce homeowners' negative equity, and that the Treasury Department expects 40 percent of borrowers who are offered permanent HAMP loan modifications to redefault over the next five years.