Efforts are under way to help stem Maine's foreclosure crisis.

Pine Tree Legal recently received a $300,000 grant from the Center for Responsible Lending to boost its foreclosure-prevention efforts, said Chet Randall, a staff attorney and coordinator of the foreclosure-prevention project.

He said timely legal help is critical in the foreclosure process -- moving quickly to file the necessary paperwork, or even a suit against a predatory lender, can put the brakes on the process.

Some lenders, he said, will work with homeowners to try to resolve mortgage problems short of repossession.

Those workouts can involve restructuring the loan as a fixed rate mortgage, stretching out the length of the loan, or a process known as short-selling, in which the homeowner sells the house and turns the money over to the lender even if it's for less than the amount owned. The lender, Randall said, can then decide to settle for the amount paid for the house, or offer a compromise on the balance.

But not all lenders are displaying flexibility in workout efforts, he said.

"I'm hearing a lot of lip service, but I'm not seeing a lot it in our cases," Randall said.

William N. Lund, superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, said his office has some leverage when a lender has broken or skated close to a violation of state lending laws, but can't do much to help those who may lose their houses due to paying too much or getting bad terms.

He said his office is devoting more and more resources to mortgage issues, which can be complex and time-consuming.

"We deal with this every single day here. It's our number-one priority right now," Lund said, and it's likely to stay that way because the number of adjustable rate mortgages due to reset isn't forecast to decrease until late this year.

"We may have reached a peak, but it's a broad peak," Lund said.

One of Pine Tree Legal's efforts led to creation of a group called Maine Attorneys Saving Homes, which offers training to lawyers on preventing foreclosures.

About 30 lawyers have joined, Randall said, and they agree to help at least one home- owner for free in return for the training.

Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com