Real Estate Mess

I just don't understand what is going on with the banks!!! You contact them in order to work out some kind of payment plan and they respond by foreclosing on you. It is absolutely terrible. I have a friend in New York who has been communicating with the banks with regards to working out a payment plan since she is a couple of month's late on her mortgage. The next thing she received a foreclosure notice in the mail. Today, I also got a call from another friend of mine in Georgia who had the same experience. She spoke to the banks, a well known bank, and they had agreed that she can put her home on the market for a short sale. A week later, she got a foreclosure notice in the mail. A lot of people are feeling really frustrated. I thought the government and the banks are working to keep people in their homes? What is going on?!!!!