Upside Down Mortgage

The big problem seems to be people defaulting on their mortgage loans, which leads to foreclosure and losses for the banks.

What if the banks offered to take 20% of the mortgage amount and put it in a non-interest accruing loan account, base mortgage payments on the 80% balance at high interest rate, allow the home owner to make optional payments to pay down the 20% to qualify for lower interests rates on the 80% mortgage, would this be helpful in keeping these mortgages viable?

Would this help in avoiding a taxpayer bailout of the financial system?

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