That makes perfect sense from the lender’s point of view. If they shock enough into selling now then the lender has a better chance of recouping most, if not all, their investment.
Better a possible short sale now than a foreclosure later.
Speaking of WTF, all you “6+ figure” software architects would do well to visit The Daily WTF for reminders of the fleeting nature of common sense. I subscribe to the RSS feed and encourage my pet programmers to do the same.