Re-writing mortgages would hit values: Bernanke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Changing the terms of mortgage contracts to help troubled borrowers is a serious matter with broad implications for the home loan industry, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned on Wednesday.

"It would be a fairly substantive step to rewrite the existing contracts and Congress would have to give that very serious consideration," Bernanke told the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

"It would affect the valuation of the mortgages and the behavior of investors," he said in answer to a question during semi-annual congressional testimony on the U.S. economy.

(Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by James Dalgleish)