Of the two short sales I know of that went through, both were “inside” jobs. One of them:

The listing agent owns the house. She list’s it but won’t show it or work with anyone on it. Except for her fiance. So, she ends up selling it to him and they move in, then get married. So she essentially was able to keep her house that she already had been living in several years prior (she was renting it out in the meantime) at a substantially lower price.

Second example:

Lady who owns the house is the loan officer with the bank (or does something there, I don’t have too many details) that holds the title. The couple make an offer, reneg on it and offer substantially lower. While all the negotiations are going on, for almost a year the couple live in the house rent and payment free. They end up getting the house for the lower offer price.

This is why it’s so hard to get good deals on SS. Seems like you need to have an inside.