Banks give some homeowners short-term help

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The biggest U.S. banks that service more than 23 million mortgages totaling $3.8 trillion have focused on short term relief for troubled borrowers rather than permanent changes to mortgage conditions to prevent foreclosures, a top U.S. banking regulator said on Wednesday.
"Payment plans predominated, outnumbering loan modifications in March by more than four to one," said John Dugan, head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.