On Thursday, the Connecticut Post published the following op-ed by Senator Chris Dodd on the Hope for Homeowners program. Senator Dodd is Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.

While Congress and the Bush administration work to get our markets moving again so that small businesses can make payroll and families living paycheck to paycheck can put food on the table, the foreclosure crisis at the heart of this economic crisis continues to unfold. Before the spectacular fall of Wall Street giants such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, millions of Americans were suffering through a financial catastrophe of their own. Today, nearly 10,000 families go into foreclosure on a daily basis, while millions more suffer from plummeting home values, taking a terrible toll not only on their cumulative wealth but their sense of confidence in what the future holds for their children.

Despite this deeply troubling scenario, there's some cause for optimism for homeowners in Connecticut.

Beginning this month is a new initiative: the Hope for Homeowners program, or H4H. Created as part of legislation I authored and passed this summer, it will help responsible homeowners trapped in exploding, increasingly unaffordable loans rework their mortgages and keep their homes.

The relief arrives not a moment too soon. Last month, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that more than 2 million home mortgages were either in foreclosure or 90 days past due at the end of June. In Connecticut, the news was only little better -- according to the MBA, 16,560 mortgages in our state were either delinquent or in foreclosure, almost twice as many as a year earlier.

Hope for Homeowners will help hundreds of thousands of struggling American families save their homes from foreclosure, including thousands right here in Connecticut. H4H encourages lenders and homeowners to sit down and work out a loan modification that allows people to keep their homes.

Every struggling homeowner in Connecticut should know the following information about the HOPE for Homeowners program:

Homeowners initiate the process. Those in trouble or behind on their mortgage payments should immediately call 1-800-CALL-FHA, visit www.FHA.gov or speak to a counselor from a local community housing group like the Partnership for Stronger Communities and the Connecticut Coalition for Affordable Housing to determine the best course of action.

If you are behind on your mortgage payments for your primary residence, you could be eligible. Assuming your loan originated earlier than 2008, you haven't intentionally defaulted on it, and you are behind (or in danger of falling behind) on your payments, you could qualify. All modified loans will be valued at no more than 90 percent of the current value of the home and will be 30-year, fixed-rate loans based on the amount borrowers can pay.

Your lender may have a strong incentive to participate. Even though the program is voluntary and lenders will have to take losses to benefit from H4H, these losses would be far less than they would incur if the property enters into foreclosure. Rather than accepting the losses associated with foreclosure and declining property values, the lender may choose to provide responsible homeowners with an affordable monthly mortgage payment through a loan modification.

Some may be asking, "What's the trade-off?" In return for this assistance, homeowners are required to pay for government insurance, which is included in their renegotiated monthly payment. Homeowners are also required to share any new equity and future appreciation from selling the home equally with the government. But H4H will help homeowners find a way to keep their homes on much more affordable terms.

No one is expecting all our problems to be solved overnight. Long before the recent troubles on Wall Street and the subprime mortgage meltdown, families were struggling with rising gas and food prices, skyrocketing health care premiums and growing unemployment.

Indeed, when the president requested a blank check from Congress to stabilize our economy, I believed someone needed to be looking out for American families, too. That is why in addition to successfully fighting for greater taxpayer protection and oversight, we ensured thousands more in danger of losing their homes would be eligible for Hope for Homeowners assistance. That is but one important reason why I'm pleased this emergency legislation was signed into law this past week.

With Hope for Homeowners, those at risk of losing their homes can get the help they need -- and soon. I urge anyone who believes they might be in trouble with mortgage payments or who knows someone who is to act now. We can all help. Because, as we all know, when those foreclosure signs start coming down -- and if people take advantage of this program, they will -- everyone in the neighborhood will benefit.

Christopher J. Dodd, a Democrat, is Connecticut's senior U.S. senator and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.