(ap) At-risk borrowers with all types of mortgages, not just high-cost subprime loans, could be eligible for help under a new plan involving six big home lenders. Against a backdrop of surging defaults and administration officials' prodding of the mortgage industry, the plan will allow seriously overdue homeowners to suspend foreclosures for 30 days while lenders try to work out more affordable loan terms. On a pilot basis, the plan will involve six of the largest mortgage lenders, in hopes that more lenders will sign on. All six are involved in Hope Now, an effort the Bush administration brokered with the mortgage industry late last year to freeze rates on some high-cost subprime mortgages for five years to aid borrowers whose teaser rates are jumping sharply higher. The new plan applies to seriously delinquent homeowners, those whose mortgages are 90 days or more past due. With home prices falling, even some people with good credit have gotten behind on their payments. Like many subprime borrowers, they signed up for adjustable-rate mortgages that allowed them to make smaller, steady payments for several years until a higher fluctuating interest rate kicked in. Some borrowed against their rising equity as home prices climbed, assuming they would be able to refinance or sell their homes before the higher payments began. But as prices have plummeted, many homeowners now owe more than their home is worth, and banks have tightened their lending practices, leaving even people with stellar credit struggling with higher payments.

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