The mortgage industry’s insufficient response to the subprime mortgage and foreclosure crisis has forced many middle-class Americans from their homes and put countless others at risk of losing their houses. Despite national awareness of the dire situation throughout 2007, foreclosure filings increased 57% from January 2007 to January 2008. The Home Ownership and Mortgage Equity Protection Act seeks to stem the rising tide of foreclosures by authorizing federal bankruptcy courts to modify mortgage payments due on homeowners’ primary residences, a practice which is barred under current law. The bill would permit bankruptcy courts to restructure the debt on home mortgages by setting interest rates and principal at commercially reasonable market rates and extending repayment periods. The legislation is restricted to homeowners whose income is insufficient to pay their mortgage obligations and for whom foreclosure is imminent, is applicable only to existing subprime or nontraditional loans, and will expire after seven years.