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Freddie Mac and 13 national and local non-profit organizations announced a pilot effort to convince discouraged delinquent borrowers to pursue mortgage workouts that can save their homes and steer clear of foreclosure.

Freddie Mac's new Borrower Help Centers in Chicago, Phoenix, San Bernardino and Washington, DC are designed to provide free, confidential one-on-one "holistic" mortgage counseling to delinquent Freddie Mac borrowers. The company is also launching a separate Borrower Help Network offering similar counseling over the phone to targeted Freddie Mac borrowers across the nation.

Both efforts rely on non-profit organizations with strong reputations to contact and work with Freddie Mac borrowers who may be eligible for a modification but never called their lender or became frustrated or uncertain of the process and gave up trying.

"We know that fear and frustration are keeping thousands of borrowers from getting the help they're eligible to receive," says Ed Haldeman, Chief Executive ...