Plan to help homeowners.

As tens of thousands of Californians face losing their homes amid a roiling nationwide subprime-mortgage crisis, the Bush administration unveiled plans Tuesday for a reprieve for at-risk homeowners even as Golden State lawmakers push to clamp down on lenders and try to provide relief. Harrison Sheppard in the Daily News.

Under the Bush plan, six of the nation's largest financial institutions will work with homeowners who are 90 or more days overdue on monthly mortgage payments and offer them a 30-day delay in the foreclosure process.

Nearly a dozen bills in the state Legislature also include new disciplinary measures for abusive practices, public reporting requirements on the industry's efforts to help homeowners, new levels of scrutiny on potential borrowers, and restrictions on loan fees.