U.S. mortgage group has broad homeowner aid plan

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WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) - HOPE NOW, the umbrella group for leading U.S. mortgage firms aiming to help troubled homeowners, on Tuesday will release principles it says will help them avoid foreclosure, it said on Monday.

HOPE NOW was formed in October at the urging of the U.S. Treasury Department. For months, it has issued piecemeal guidelines encouraging mortgage lenders, servicers and investors to take steps that will keep borrowers in their homes.

The guidelines to be released on Tuesday will largely restate many of the principles that have already been agreed to by members of HOPE NOW, according to a draft of the agreement.

The document will encourage mortgage companies to forebear when a loan is delinquent and heading toward foreclosure.

HOPE NOW has for months reported on the swelling ranks of homeowners who have been aided by outreach and friendlier lending terms from industry members. A study released last week by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, however, indicated that those outreach efforts have fallen short.

The federal bank regulator's study of outreach efforts from the nine banks that control 40 percent of home loans found that mortgage companies were more inclined to change the payment schedule of a troubled loan rather than retool the original loan terms. (Written by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Dan Grebler)