With the present financial crisis, the government has plans to bailout the “Big 3” which happen to have their headquarters in Detroit. What about for the distressed homeowners facing foreclosure? What can they expect?

Ordinary citizens of Detroit, just like the rest of America, should not expect any benefit from the government’s bailout programs. This is according to most analysts and observers.

Detroit is among the hardest hit areas when it comes to the number of foreclosure filings this year. In fact, in the October report of Realty-Trac, Detroit registered the highest foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas. Within this year, close to 5 percent of Detroit’s households entered some stage of foreclosure. This is a whopping 4.8 times the national average.

Many believed that 2007 would be the worst year for Detroit. Last year, a total of 72,616 foreclosure filings on 41,273 properties were reported in the Detroit metro area. This figure is up by 68 percent from the 2006 numbers. Though 2008 is not yet over and data is not yet available, those who predicted a better real estate market in Detroit for this year could be wrong.

These numbers are large enough for any government bailout program. What is left for Detroit homeowners, which is actually more promising than bailouts, is loan modification initiative. Seeing the benefits of loan modification a large number of homeowners have recently sought loan modifications from their lenders, thus, lenders are somewhat overwhelmed.

Recently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that they will roll out a plan to modify hundreds of thousands of loans in an effort to prevent foreclosures. According to the Wall Street journal, the mortgage giants, under the federal conservatorships, aim to reduce mortgage payments to no more than 38% of household income.

The Treasury Department will also encourage private lenders, especially banks, to follow the same model. This plea however, is not backed by any state legislation to compel private lending institutions to initiate loan modification to their delinquent borrowers. Fortunately, there are dedicated loan modification experts available who can assist homeowners in cutting down their monthly mortgage payments.