FACTBOX: Presidential candidates on the mortgage crisis

(Reuters) - Mounting U.S. mortgage foreclosures have spooked financial markets around the globe in recent months. The Bush administration is near a deal with lenders that could save struggling homeowners who borrowed at low teaser rates from foreclosure by freezing those rates before they reset sharply higher.

Here are proposals by some 2008 presidential candidates on how to deal with the mortgage crisis:

NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC SEN. HILLARY CLINTON:

- said on December 3 that the Bush administration should freeze the interest rates on adjustable-rate subprime mortgages for at least five years

- called on the Bush administration to impose a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of subprime mortgages on owner-occupied homes

- said she might offer legislation that would allow lenders to restructure troubled loans without investor permission

- proposed $5 billion for counseling and other measures to reduce foreclosures

- on her Web site, Clinton says she would limit prepayment penalties for those who refinance.

FORMER NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC SEN. JOHN EDWARDS:

- said on December 5 that any interest-rate freeze should last seven years

- said lenders should help those facing foreclosures by converting their loans to a fixed rate, reducing their interest rates, forgiving a portion of their loans, or capitalizing their delinquent payments

- said he would establish a fund to help borrowers restructure their mortgages

- said he would allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgages

- On his campaign Web site, Edwards says he would prohibit balloon loans, steep prepayment penalties, mandatory arbitration clauses, and other "excessive" fees.

- would regulate all lenders and strengthen underwriting standards

- would ban "yield-spread premiums," the incentives paid by lenders to brokers who steer customers to more expensive loans

ILLINOIS DEMOCRATIC SEN. BARACK OBAMA:

- On his campaign Web site, Obama says he would establish stiff penalties for mortgage fraud

- would establish a fund to help people refinance their mortgages or sell their houses if they can't afford them

- would use a small portion of profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to create up to 14,000 units of new affordable housing every year

- would restore funding for the Community Development Block Grant program, which provides housing and jobs for low income people.

FORMER NEW YORK REPUBLICAN MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI

- told CNBC on November 29 that he opposes "bailouts" as a solution to the mortgage crisis, though help should be available for consumers cheated by unethical lenders.

- said the housing market, like the rest of the economy, would benefit from lower taxes, less government spending, and lighter regulation

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS REPUBLICAN GOV. MITT ROMNEY

- has said in campaign appearances that his tax-cut proposal would help those struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments.

ARKANSAS REPUBLICAN GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE

- "The worst thing we can do is simply to have the government come in and bail out either the lender or the borrower who unfortunately made some very bad business decisions," Huckabee says in a YouTube video, adding that it wouldn't be fair to those who bought homes they can afford. "Frankly the market will correct itself. It will be painful for some people," he says.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington, editing by Philip Barbara)