There may be some help on the way for distressed borrowers. Many home owners who bought homes with subprime loans have found themselves in trouble when their interest loan rates increased. Here is an article from the Associated Press, Marcy Gordon, May 2, 2007, which may bring relief to those home owners.

Major home mortgage lenders have agreed to adopt a set of principles for dealing with home owners in trouble with high-priced loans, says Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

The agreed upon principles are:

1.Contacting distressed borrowers promptly to try to work out arrangements.

2.Making loans more affordable by reducing rates, changing terms, and other means.

3.Providing refinancing at the lowest cost possible for those who are eligible.

Those agreeing to the principles include the Mortgage Bankers Association, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., HSBC Holdings Corp., and Bear Stearns & Co.; government-sponsored mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; AARP; and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Companies participating in the meeting that didn’t endorse the principles included the nation’s largest lender Countrywide Financial Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co.

John O’Dell is a licensed real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor