From my experience on East Coast, banks will not negotiate short sale unless you have missed payments.
Bank send a package upon your request that needs to be filled out by homeowner.
Is your property for sale? You should contact a Realtor for advice.

Art-Both answers from Michael and Minna are excellent and correct.

You said you "enter into the short sale process". You have only entered it? Make every payment within your power to make. Your short sale can take quite awhile to approve, if approved. You do not want to get so far in over your head you have to be foreclosed upon.

Things happen and circumstances change. However, your loan agreement stated you would make your payments on time, or you would lose the property by foreclosure. You gave your word and you have a duty to do everything possible to keep your word.

There is a lengthy process to the "Short Sale". It is by no means an instant solution to your dilemmas. Whether you have your home listed now, or will after the approval of the short sale, that kicks off another waiting process.

I would strongly advise, if you have not already done so, you begin speaking with agents in your area with a proven track record of short sales. You do not want to scramble at the 11th hour to find a listing agent to handle your sale. Short sales require expertise and experience. It is a sale that takes patience and understanding of the process.

You should speak with an attorney as well. Find out whether a short sale is your best option, or if there is another that will save you time and grief and the least ramification financially and legally.

Protect yourself, and do your best.

That depends on how much you value your credit. Your short sale ( I assume you already have a buyer) will be in progress and usually foreclosure activity will not happen during this time. However - If you have been making your payments your credit has not yet been adversely affected, stopping payment will result in credit ramifications, collections activity ( ie calls all time of day) and movement towards foreclosure.
However if you are making payments at the cost of being able to feed your family...well...we all make choices.
Do what is right for you and your situation.

You signed loan papers stating that you agreed to make your payments. No bank is going to tell you that you can stop making payments. If you do stop making payments, the bank will report it to the credit bureaus. If you only have a few months to pay before you clear this up, you may not want to ruin your credit over a few payments.

So, to answer your question directly, the bank can't force the payment out of you. So you can stop. But you will pay a price for it.

Have you already listed your home? If so, what did your agent advise you to do? If not, I would be happy to help you get your home sold so you can get this behind you.

Michael Magaw
310.259.6850