There is still a lot of misconception "Short Sale verses Foreclosure"

A short sale is a process in which the mortgage holder agrees to accept less than the balance owed on the mortgage at sale to prevent foreclosure. The lender would much rather see you sell the property than be forced to take the property through foreclosure, as foreclosure is a costly and time-consuming process.

Generally speaking, a short sale occurs when a homeowner who is behind on his or her mortgage payments, and who owes more on his home than it is currently worth, contacts the mortgage lender asking the lender to allow him to sell the home for less than the balance of the mortgage. For example, if you owe $100,000 on your mortgage, but are only able to sell your home for $80,000, you would need to have your mortgage lender agree ahead of time to allow the sale to proceed. In fact, there is little use in putting your home on the market until you, or your attorney, have spoken with your mortgage company's loss mitigation department to discuss proceeding with a short sale. Many lenders will authorize short sales in an attempt to prevent property from falling into foreclosure; however, some lenders will not allow short sales to proceed. Usually, no lender will authorize a short sale unless the borrower is already in arrears on his mortgage, as the lender will see this as evidence that the borrower can no longer afford the home. In addition, your mortgage lender's loss mitigation team will probably want to see documentation of your income and assets to verify that a financial hardship exists and that you truly cannot afford the home.

In regards to your credit score, the negative credit impact of a short sale is generally significantly less than that of a foreclosure. A short sale will not appear as a foreclosure on your credit report, and therefore only the previous delinquency on your mortgage will appear. Also, I believe that most mortgage lenders report a mortgage that is paid through a short sale as being in a redemption status. While the delinquency and change of status on your mortgage loan will certainly lower your credit rating, from my experience, the negative impact is usually much less than the negative credit implications of an actual foreclosure. If you must choose between a short sale and allowing your home to go into foreclosure, from a credit perspective, a short sale is probably the wiser choice. Again, I encourage you to speak with an experienced real estate attorney to discuss the details of your situation to help you determine the best course of action in your circumstances.