Treasury gets tougher on home loan relief

The Obama administration threatened on Monday to punish mortgage lenders with fines unless they speed up efforts to give hard-pressed homeowners a permanent break on monthly payments.

With foreclosures still rising and roughly 375,000 borrowers seen as eligible for permanent loan modifications by year-end, the U.S. Treasury and Housing and Urban Development departments want to make sure that banks come through on the promise of lower payments.