If you or a loved one is facing potential foreclosure on your home, you may have been offered some new hope, recently. The Bush Administration announced "Project Lifeline," which is a new initiative to offer a range of remedies to keep people in their homes. According to the New York Times, approximately 425,000 homeowners are eligible to benefit from this plan.

This program is not only for those with ARMs (adjustable-rate mortgages) and subprime mortgages, but for folks with all types of home loan financing. Investors, second homes and people who lied on their mortgage applications aren't eligible for "Project Lifeline." Neither are homeowners who have a date set for a foreclosure auction..

It is a component of the Hope Now Alliance (1-888-995-HOPE), which was launched in October of 2007, which was only for subprime borrowers with adjustable rate loans. This "Project Lifeline" outreach program is designed to benefit many more homeowners who are at least 90 days late on their home loan payments by granting them a 30-day break from the foreclosure process.

This extra time is to allow their lenders to try and work out a more affordable solution. The possible options could be "freezing" the borrower's interest rate, restructuring their loan or even lowering the interest rate.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said no program could save every borrower, and, "if you can't afford to live in a home, you'll go back to renting."

If you are eligible to be assisted, you should be notified by mail and you'll have 10 days to contact your loan servicer or a non-profit housing counselor

After weeks of meetings with Treasury Department officials, mortgage lenders, and Wall Street firms, the White House reached an agreement to "freeze" interest rates for up to five years on certain subprime adjustable rate mortgages.

According to the New York Times, the Mr. Bush's plan was to convert as many subprime adjustable rate mortgages as possible into "more sustainable loans."

While this "freeze" could potentially help many homeowners avoid foreclosure, it will only apply to borrowers who meet ALL the following criteria:

• Aquired their home loan between January 2005 and July 2007 and have interest rates set to increase within three (3) to five (5) years, specifically between January of 2008 and July of 2010; and
• Have an equity position of less than 3% in their homes; and
• Are currently up to date, or no more than 60 days behind, on their mortgage payments; and
• Will not be able to afford the higher payment set to occur, but are able to comfortably handle their current lower rate.

Analysts estimate that the plan will help between 240,000 to 250,000 borrowers.

No legislation is required for this plan because the "freeze" is a voluntary agreement on the part of lenders.

The Hope Now Alliance was put together by the Department of Housing and Development (HUD,) the Department of Treasury, and six of the largest financial institutions in the country.

CNN reported that the Hope Now Alliance helped 545,000 subprime borrowers and 324,000 prime borrowers between July and December of 2007.

The lenders participating in the talks, which collectively service more than 50% of mortgages in America, were:

• Bank of America Corp. (BAC)
• Citigroup Inc. (C)
• Countrywide (CFC)
• J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM)
• Washington Mutual Inc. (WM)
• Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)

They came to agreement on this program in an effort to lessen the anticipated impact foreclosures could have on the financial markets.

CNN Money reported that foreclosures of all types rose 75 percent in 2007 according to RealtyTrac.

This recent "Project Lifeline" was the result of these top 6 investors of mortgages, but Hope Now Alliance, created last October, included 25 loan servicing institutions.