Henry Paulson stammered through another announcement on how the Bush Admin is helping the down and out (and not in Beverly Hills!).   The big six banks that signed up the “Project Hope” BS scheme of a few months ago have also signed up for some additional free PR with Project Lifeline. The big six are: Wells Fargo, Citigroup, WaMu, Bank of America, Chase and last but not least Countrywide…..the Mother of them all.  These lenders have agreed to hold off on filing the foreclosure documents on qualified folks currently behind 90 plus days on their mortgage payments. This would be all borrowers in default, not just the ones whom should not have gotten the loan in the first place. After 90 days of non-payment, a letter will go out notifying the borrower to call the lender to talk about the problem. The borrower has 10 days to rely and another 20 to work out a better payment plan. If qualified, the lender will consider a modification to more palatable payment terms.  The loan must be a conforming loan amount, owner occupied, late more than 90 days, not already in foreclosure or bankruptcy.  These requirements will eliminate many of the loans in default owned by speculators and others.  How many people will it help? That depends on how many people bother to call the bank back.