Boston Fed expands mortgage relief program

Another 45 New England banks have joined an initiative to refinance local borrowers into more affordable loans.

The Mortgage Relief Fund is a campaign coordinated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston that seeks to attract borrowers who could qualify for a loan with a lower interest rate. It was launched in December with five of the region's largest banks. The new members mostly are small community banks.The participating banks are pledged to work with borrowers, but the banks generally will not bend their normal lending rules. As a result, the program has struggled to find people it can help. In the first six months, the initiative has received about 1,325 inquiries from borrowers, but it has produced only 16 new loans.

"We remain convinced that many borrowers can indeed be helped, and we are trying to find them," said Thomas Lavelle, a spokesman for the Boston Fed. A list of the new participating banks is available here, while the original participants are listed at the bottom of the Mortgage Relief Fund website.
(By Binyamin Appelbaum, Globe staff)