Foreclosure Relief Still Uncertain.

Washington -- The Senate has passed a bipartisan foreclosure prevention bill by an 84-12 vote that provides $10 billion for refinancing subprime mortgages, $4 billion for purchasing foreclosed properties and $180 million for foreclosure counseling but servicers should not expect these provisions to be enacted into law anytime soon.

The House of Representatives is taking a different track in addressing the foreclosure crisis and it is unclear how or when the two chambers of Congress will be able to reconcile their differences and send a bill to the White House that the president would sign.

Many senators and consumer groups are disappointed that the Senate bill turned out to be such a modest proposal that did not provide bankruptcy relief for struggling homeowners and directed most of the tax benefits to homebuilders and mortgage companies.

But most Republicans and the financial services industry solidly opposed any bankruptcy code changes.

Allowing bankruptcy judges to restructure mortgages provides a "safety valve so homeowners have an alternative to turn to," according to Allen Fishbein, director of credit and housing policy at the Consumer Federation of America.

"We still have to address the at-risk homeowner and this proposal doesn't do it," Mr. Fishbein said.

"A staggering" 8,000 families are filing for foreclosure every day," Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said immediately after the Senate vote on April 10. "We got more work to do in preventing foreclosures."