More than half exit foreclosure-relief program

   ^^^ That's an AP headline from earlier today. It's not a surprising headline to read given the trying times that we're in but if you were moved enough to read further, you'd find this obvious bit of information below:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/More-than-half-exit-apf-1270328495.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=6&asset=&ccode=
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration's flagship mortgage-relief effort is failing to ease the foreclosure crisis as more than half of those who have enrolled have fallen out of the program. As of August, approximately 680,000 homeowners who applied to get their mortgage payments lowered, or about 51 percent, have been disqualified, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. That's up from about 48 percent in July."

   Is anyone surprised by this news? I'm not. If a homeowner is so strapped for cash that he's applying for a lower mortgage payment, it can be inferred that he's falling behind on his mortgage and/or has recently entered the ranks of the unemployed. If this is the case, why would he be credit-worthy enough to qualify for a lower mortgage payment. It's a dumb conundrum. There'll be a lot more dumb conundrums in the next few years as homeowners continue soldiering through the economic malaise.