Unfortunately, the foreclosure case managers from lenders are frequently childish and aggressive, not willing to lift a finger to help their clients save their homes. This is often extremely bewildering to the average homeowner or foreclosure specialist, since the conventional wisdom is that mortgage companies do not want to foreclose on these homes and would rather work with the homeowners to find a solution to stop foreclosure while there is still time. Sometimes their unwillingness to come to a resolution with the homeowners stems from incompetence, sometimes fraud, but many times it is partly the homeowners' fault.
The most likely scenario is if the homeowners are very far behind and have been working on one plan after another to save the home for months, none of which have gone through. The foreclosure or sheriff sale may have been postponed numerous times, as the lender gave the foreclosure victims the benefit of the doubt that they would be able to work their way out of the problem and save the home.
But by the time the newest foreclosure help company starts working on the file with the owners, the bank is just no longer willing to do anything, after dealing with so many broken promises. They may feel that they have given the foreclosure victims as many chances as possible, and now they are so far behind that the possibility of saving the home is too remote; it will be easier to pursue the foreclosure and get the house ready to sell on the market, rather than wait for another attempt to stop foreclosure to fall through. Their attitude is, "They have to pay every single penny that they're behind or we are going ahead ahead with the foreclosure auction." So neither the owners nor the foreclosure specialists can get anything done with the mortgage company.
If this is not the case, though, the problem more than likely lies with the lender itself. The best bet for the homeowners or help company would be to try and talk to someone else from the bank and find out if there is anything anyone else can do. Talking to a higher-up manager or the bank's attorneys may help to get the plan off the ground. With many of these mortgage lenders, thousands of employees are available to speak with, many with self-important titles like "VP" and "Case Management Officer." The fact that many of those with these titles will have done nothing to deserve them does not forbid homeowners from looking for others with different titles who are willing to work out a solution.
Especially if there is some kind of firm offer in writing, they should be willing to negotiate. The foreclosure process costs banks more in time, resources, and money than they usually receive from selling the property, and the fact that the real estate market has taken such a turn for the worse only increases the possibility of huge losses on the loan. But in the all-too-common event that the bank is simply not willing to do anything to help their clients, it is just not a very good mortgage company and probably deserve the losses that will occur on the foreclosure.