The Reality is

I spoke with a client who owns commercial property which he bought for development. He has only developed a part of it and is having a very difficult time getting tenants and now dealing with his bank. When the bank initially approved his loan, they gave interest only for several years. They accepted the land and improvements as collateral. He was the signator for his LLC.
His wife is not involved. He pledged no personal property. Now the bank wants his wife as a co-signator, $25,000 more cash and his personal property as collateral. He has always been current on his loans. As with all real estate investors these days his cash is limited. He asked advice.
I suggested that the reason for the change in the deal was probably the result of requirements by bank regulators. I pointed out to him that banks do not want to own more commercial real estate than they do now; they do not want to foreclose; they do not want litigation and they do not want short sales(YET). They do want to work deals out but are reluctant to say it publicly.
The US banking system is leaderless. Bankers do not know what to do. Politicians are calling for banks to lend more money and cannot understand why businesses do not want to borrow more money when the only businesses banks will lend money to are those who do not need money.
Regardless of what bankers say, as long as you pay them money, they will accept it. Even though bankers threaten, keep paying what you can afford. Do not listen to anything else. Tell them what you can do. You are not alone.
It makes no sense to pay banks money you cannot afford and face hardships caused by the banking system and government in the first place.