Distressed homeowners facing foreclosure and in jeopardy of losing their homes could receive a little extra time to cure the mortgage defaults thanks to an initiative proposed by United States President George Bush and his administration, according to Yahoo!News.com.

Six participating banks of the Hope Now Alliance — Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Countrywide Financial Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., Washington Mutual Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co — will delay the foreclosure process for their customers for an additional 30 days, using the extra time to try and make the mortgages more affordable.

Here’s the actual snip:

“Under the new program, six of the nation’s largest financial institutions said they will begin contacting homeowners who are 90 or more days overdue on their monthly mortgage payments. The homeowners will be given the opportunity to put the foreclosure process on pause for 30 days while the lenders look for a way to make the mortgage more affordable. The new program will be available to the holders of all types of mortgages from prime to subprime and represents a widening of an initiative announced by President Bush in December that offers a freeze on subprime mortgage rates that are scheduled to reset to sharply higher rates for borrowers who qualify for the assistance.”

Homeowners in foreclosure are encouraged to call 1-888-995-HOPE for assistance and more information about the 30-day moratorium.

However, please consider that homeowners will not qualify for the bail out program if they:

• are already in bankruptcy
• have a foreclosure sales date less than 30 days away, or
• if the home had been purchased as an investment property or was not occupied at the current time.

For more information and additional foreclosure assistance remember that professional consultants can be reached right here.