WASHINGTON, Oct 10: Major US mortgage lenders have agreed to an “outreach” programme to help homeowners facing possible foreclosure, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced on Wednesday.The programme comes weeks after President George W. Bush unveiled an initiative to help at-risk Americans keep their homes during a credit crunch and housing downturn that has upended financial markets.

Paulson said 11 of the largest US loan servicers representing 60 per cent of the mortgages in America “have come together and formed a partnership to help more Americans keep their homes.”

The initiative, called “Hope Now,” is aimed at coordinating and improving outreach to struggling borrowers, many of whom face higher payments when adjustable-rate mortgage loans from prior years are reset at higher rates.—AFP