Advice on creating the best application in hoping for MORTGAGE MODIFICATION?

When applying for a mortgage modification (say, hypothetically, with Chase?
In general terms, what are the underwriters looking for more: Evidence that you are struggling enough that a $1-$200/monthly payment lowering would help? Or evidence that you are strong financially?
I remember in my collections days, to approve extensions and settlements we were looking for a sob story - the worse the situation seemed, the more likely for approval. But I want to strike the right balance in my presentation. For example, when it comes to my monthly expenses (which as we all know are estimates in the first place). Should I show a net disposable income of negative a couple hundred dollars?
That was my instinct, just based on the common sense that the underwriters would then conclude that if they modified my loan such to reduce my payment by $1-200/mo., life would be fine… But I'm unsure. Maybe they only want to modify in cases where the borrower's financial strength is enough to make it worth it?

Any tips appreciated. And if you only plan on commenting something argumentative like, "just tell the truth", please don't bother - we all know that estimates of monthly expenses have a lot of leeway in them in the first place, because nobody really keeps track of things like "how much do you spend on gas each month".

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