Is it too late?

[Justin H.]

I have a seller who has their sheriff sale scheduled for mid November. He just wants to break even but hasn't paid his mortgage in at least 6 months (probably longer). His mortgage started at $137k in May 05, but now he owes $154,685.62! I figured it would be about $137k now (late fees basically negating his payments for the past 3 years), but I was obviously way off and it's no where close to a good deal. Wells Fargo also already changed the locks on the house because they thought it was vacant (somewhat common) but I told him to talk to the sheriff because the property is still his and he has rights to it until it sells. The sheriff told him to talk to Wells Fargo, who told him no keys!? I talked to Wells Fargo to find out what they need for me to have information about what's going so I'm working that but can anything be done with this small amount of time? He said he asked them about a short sale, but they said it must be posted for sale for at least 90 days before they would allow a short sale? Do they mean that the short sale must stay on the market for 90 days and take the highest offer (I've heard of this)? If they will listen to my short sale argument, should I offer $120k (outstanding balance is 154,685.62 including fees) or is $34k too much to ask and they won't even respond or listen?

Thanks for the help in advance!
Justin