While HUD and the government are working to try and prevent foreclosures with programs such as HOPE now, they will be useless to those who truly cannot afford any payment, however low it is modified. Many homeowners in the face of this economic crisis are becoming jobless. More and more layoffs are being announced, and at the moment the nation´s unemployment rate is at 6.5%, which is the highest level to be reached in almost 14 years. If these homeowners are not helped, the nation´s recession will only continue. Their cases must be assessed individually with lenders, in order to find the best possible, if any, solution. A spokesman for JP Morgan Chase, Tom Kelly, remarked that "This is a different problem and a more challenging problem,...If you are unemployed for a long time, there is no affordable range."

In regards to those who are unemployed but with good chances of getting another job with the same relative income, the bank could potentially offer short-term modification or forbearance, which is why smaller or no payments are made for up to a year until new employment is found. After the homeowner is then employed, the bank would increase the payments until the borrower has paid the difference from the modified time period, or add the modified/missed payments to the loan term. For those whose prospects of finding a job with a similar salary are unlikely, the bank could offer a short sale.

In looking at June´s records, almost 45.5% of all loan delinquencies reported by Freddie Mac, were due to income loss or unemployment. In 2006, that same record was at 36.3%. It has been estimated that in the next two years, over 2 million more families could lose their home if something if urgent prevention is not taken.The best bet at helping these troubled homeowners to keep their home, is perhaps not just loan modification but an economic stimulus package to revamp employment. Alan White, an assistant professor at Valparaiso University School of Law, is in accordance with this view, "Just giving consumers money won't help,...We need government spending to create jobs."