Housing agency expands mortgage aid program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Housing Administration will loosen its mortgage refinance program to help more delinquent borrowers and those facing hardships like job loss, the agency said on Tuesday.

FHA runs the largest government-backed program meant to refinance borrowers who cannot afford their payments and are facing foreclosure.

"It widens the number of people who will qualify," said Steve Preston, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary. "This is a much broader allowance."

Preston's department oversees the FHA. It announced in April that it would widen the program in order to rescue more borrowers who have seen their mortgage payments spike and home values sink in recent months.

Preston said Tuesday's expansion will be in place July 14 and largely reflects the changes announced in April.

Federal policy-makers are under pressure to do more to reverse a record pace of foreclosures and to help keep more families in their homes.

The new program would be open to borrowers who have missed three months of payments in the past and have lost income due to job loss or other hardship. It should help an additional 100,000 borrowers avoid foreclosure this year, FHA officials said.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Dan Grebler)