Freddie Mac announced a pilot program yesterday targeting 5,000 delinquent borrowers who have high-risk mortgages.

Under the program, Freddie Mac will pay an outside company to launch an intensified effort to reach a subset of homeowners who have missed two mortgage payments.

The program will attempt to speed the homeowners through the loan-modification process, which could include lowering their interest rate or extending the terms of their loan.

The idea is to put more effort into specific types of high-risk loans, including Alt-A loans, a category that typically has not required borrowers to document income. Those loans make up a small portion of Freddie's portfolio, but half its delinquencies, spokesman Brad German said.

Washington Post