Fewer get help to alter payments

U.S. mortgage servicing companies helped 170,000 homeowners modify loans or set repayment plans to avert foreclosure in May, a 7% decrease from the previous month, according to an industry survey.

The Hope Now Alliance of loan servicers, counselors and investors has helped almost 1.7 million owners stay in their homes since last July, the Washington group said. Companies in May set up 100,000 repayment plans and modified loans for 70,000 borrowers, Hope Now said. A record 183,000 homeowners received help in April, the group said.

The industry-led group, formed last year at the urging of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., in June agreed on a uniform timetable to speed the pace of mortgage modifications amid the worst housing slump since the Great Depression.