It's mostly for the bankers -- on top of their huge bonuses -- while they continue to foreclose on the working people who can't work hard enough to pay double what their houses are now worth. Sick!
I personally know a few people who are letting the banks have their houses, and I don't blame them. They will be foreclosed on and then file bankruptcy. One of them has made sure all her money is in her retirement accounts. They can't touch that. It wrecks your credit, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now have to consider loans for people who are two years out of bankruptcy, so hopefully it won't be that bad for them. I wouldn't keep my house if I owed twice as much as it's worth, and they won't reduce the principal in the modifications. They just want the loans off their books.