Dodd has advocated that the federal government, through the Federal Housing Administration, insure up to $300 billion in refinanced mortgages for distressed homeowners.

The Foreclosure Project recruits, trains and mentors pro bono attorneys to assist distressed homeowners in an effort to preserve homes and minimize damage to creditworthiness.

This crisis demands immediate relief for distressed homeowners along with long term solutions that will prevent the housing downturn from worsening.

And even if the efforts go as planned, they may not help the most distressed homeowners.

As Director of American Homeowner Preservation LLC, a Cincinnati-based foreclosure prevention firm, Newbery works to keep distressed homeowners in their homes.

In May 2008, Mozilo made the news by accidentally hitting "reply" instead of "forward" in response to an e-mail from a distressed homeowner named Daniel Bailey of North Carolina.

Today, Gladle admitted that beginning in October 2007 and continuing until October 2011, he operated a foreclosure-rescue fraud scheme that netted him more than $1.6 million in fees from distressed homeowners.

An ACORN official voiced support for a proposal Hillary Clinton made during the presidential primary election to create a federal fund for distressed homeowners.

The foreclosure process begins when a financially distressed homeowner fails to make a loan payment and is served with a summons from his or her creditors.

There are frightening signs coming from Washington that legislators may shortchange distressed homeowners, playing politics as usual with relief funds.