Foreclosures and short sales: which are best?

The stress of a short sale may be too much for a borrower to handle, and
it’s tempting for Florida homeowners to throw their hands up in defeat
and allow the bank to take their home in a strategic default. But
Florida law allows so-called deficiency judgments, meaning lenders can
go after the foreclosed property and collect the balance of the judgments for up
to 20 years after a foreclosure or a short sale, which can lead to a
garnishment of wages long after the home is gone. In short sales,
however, banks are sometimes willing to write off the remainder of the
balance. Mark Greene, owner of Short Sale Operations, says that in 90
percent of the cases he has seen, the banks have written off the
deficiency. [Palm
Beach Post]