I used to work at a mortgage servicing operation a long time ago when I was much younger. The people who worked at these operations were typically in their 20s/30s and not paid top dollar. I dont remember one person who actually cared about what they did or was very happy to have a position within the operation.
The operation was extremely busy and it was commonplace to see files stacked everywhere in the aisles with no apparent type of organization. There was a queue of calls coming into the center each day with the average rep handling over 100 per day. It seemed generally disorganized. That was back at some point in the 90s.
I can imagine today these servicing operations are undermanned and handling way more then what they were designed for. The people working there are probably thoroughly demoralized over seeing their co-workers layed off and dont see a future, but continue to grind work out each day for a check.
There are specific loan workout departments within each servicer and you can work out a payment plan or some other type of deal. Basically, you are shucking and jiving them buying more time to stay in the house.
So when they start the foreclosure proceedings you call them up and work out a plan. They will stop the proceedings and that will buy more time. Your file will be stuck somewhere waiting in a queue for a while. If the servicing operation isnt advanced, then your file will be waiting in a stack for quite a while.
In the end, you get to live in a house free for several months to a few years. You will eventually get a black mark on your credit, but will have saved up a lot during that time.
Remember, we are talking about fraud and basically a criminal enterprise. Most authorities wont bother to investigate and it would be hard to prove in any event.