WASHINGTON — Moved to action after a two-week recess and hearing the complaints of constituents, members of Congress are now preparing legislation to offer help to troubled homeowners facing foreclosure. A bipartisan effort, finds Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) agreeing on aspects of a broad package of legislation, the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008.

Various draft bills, including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank's, (D-Mass.) and a similar plan offered in the Senate by Sen. Chris Dodd, (D-Conn.) along with provisions offered by Reid and Sen. Dick Durban (D-Ill.) may be combined in some form and agreed upon by both parties and come to the floor as early as this afternoon.

Yesterday, NAFCU sent a comment letter to both Reid and McConnell, urging that the broad scope of Title IV — Helping Families Save Their Home in Bankruptcy Act of S. 2636, the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 as initially introduced would have allowed bankruptcy judges to alter all mortgages, rather than just subprime loans. After consulting with Sen. Durbin, who introduced the bill late last year, he agreed to compromise language that would limit Title IV to only subprime and non-traditional loans, exempting certain interest-only prime loans that were not predatory in nature.