Short Sale Lesson in Highland Park

Part of the bitch of short sale listings is the wait, according to this NPR story about Ben Gaffen, a local Los Angeles resident with a budget of about $300,000, who ends up bailing on a potential Craftsman home in Highland Park. The previous buyers (who believe they are victims of mortgage fraud), are ready to sell, but after two months of waiting on the bank, Gaffen walks away from the home, believing the house is overpriced. NPR's explanation of the short sale conundrum: "For one thing, there aren't enough people at the banks to deal with the giant influx of short sales, so the wait can easily be months, and in a market where prices continue to drop, that means buyers losing interest, and more houses going into foreclosure, with banks, owners, and neighborhoods all losing out." Here's our dumb question, but why don't the banks hire all those out of work investment bankers--at reduced salaries--to help speed up the short sale process? [NPR]