Countrywide mortgage aid

An estimated 125,000 California borrowers who are behind on their Countrywide mortgage payments and in danger of foreclosure will be eligible for loan modifications and other help under a program to be unveiled today.

The total value of the benefits in California could reach $3.5 billion. The plan calls

for:

* Loan modifications, mostly through reduced interest payments, and in certain cases reductions of loan balances

* Suspension of foreclosure on delinquent loans while loan modifications are being reviewed

* Waived late fees

* Payments to delinquent borrowers or people whose homes have been foreclosed

* Waived prepayment penalties for borrowers whose loans are modified, paid off or refinanced

* Additional payments to borrowers who can't afford their monthly payments after loan modifications and who lose their homes to foreclosure in the future

Source: California attorney general's office