Bernanke urges U.S. to stem foreclosures

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on the government Thursday to ramp up efforts to stem soaring home foreclosures, which are feeding into the country's deep economic troubles.

Although actions have been taken to ease the housing crisis, foreclosures still remain "too high," with adverse consequences for struggling homeowners, squeezed lenders and the broader economy, Bernanke said in remarks to a Fed conference on housing finance.

Lenders appear to be on track to initiate 2.25 million foreclosures this year, up from an average annual pace of less than 1 million during the pre-crisis period, he said.

Bernanke outlined a number of what he called "promising options" to reduce preventable foreclosures. Under one plan, Bernanke called on Congress to ease the terms of a government program called Hope for Homeowners, which lets distressed homeowners refinance into more affordable, federally insured mortgages if the lender writes down the amount owed on the mortgage and pays an upfront insurance premium. Bernanke suggested Congress lower the lender's upfront insurance premium as well as reducing the interest rate borrowers pay, which presently is quite high, roughly 8 percent.