In the news last night and in the newspapers this morning, the latest attempt to forestall foreclosures was announced by the Sec. of the Treasury, Henry Paulson.  The proposal is to freeze foreclosures for 30 days and to reach out to those borrowers (homeowners) who are 90 days delinquent in their payments and who have not contacted their lender regarding a work-out.   The Arizona Republic detailed some of the guidelines:  no Trustee's Sale within the next 30 days; not in bankruptcy; not vacated the property (still living in the house); and not used equity to purchase a vacation home or investment property.

Time will tell whether this latest 'Lifeline' will be sufficient to halt the foreclosures and allow more homeowners to stay in their homes.  The op-ed piece this morning in the New York Times was extremely sceptical about this attempt and called for Congress to take a more active role in halting our foreclosure/mortgage default mess. 

Any bail-out will take time, and hopefully, those borrowers who meet these guidelines will contact their lender.  The Big Five (Bank of America, Chase, Countrywide, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo) are participating in this latest attempt.  Let's wait and see if this works.