Senate wants to let more refinance mortgages

WASHINGTON -- Trying to curb home foreclosures, the Senate voted on Wednesday to make it easier for homeowners with risky credit to switch to a lower-cost mortgage backed by the government.

The bill, passed 91-5, also would give banks a break by encouraging reduced fees they must pay for the government to insure deposits.

While both steps put taxpayer money on the line, lawmakers say the legislation is needed to prevent the economy from getting worse.

"Given the size and scope of the struggles too many Nevadans and Americans endure, it will take more time before housing normalizes again," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "But with this bill, we are working to hasten that day so that no family will ever accept losing its home as the way it is."

Absent from the measure was a bankruptcy provision that President Obama had promised to push through Congress but backed away from amid stiff opposition from banks. The provision, rejected by the Senate last week in a 45-51 vote, would have allowed bankruptcy judges to lower a person's mortgage payment.

While the House included the provision when it passed its version of the bill in March, lawmakers said it didn't have enough support to insist it be included in the final compromise bill. The two chambers have to iron out their differences in the legislation before it can be sent to Obama to sign.

"That issue is a dead letter," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Banking Committee.

Also on Wednesday, the House agreed to a Senate-passed bill that would hire hundreds more FBI agents and prosecutors to investigate mortgage fraud. The legislation, expected to reach the president's desk soon, also would establish a $5 million, independent commission to investigate the cause of the financial crisis and chart a path forward.

The Senate housing bill would expand an existing $300 billion program called "Hope for Homeowners," which encourages lenders to write down an individual's mortgage if the homeowner agrees to pay an insurance premium. The program, which is set to expire in 2011, is intended to swap out a homeowner's high-interest rate for a 30-year fixed loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration.