WASHINGTON -- Top mortgage lenders and servicers, under pressure to do more to help prevent record numbers of foreclosures, have reached a major agreement on new guidelines to improve and speed up the industry's voluntary efforts to help struggling homeowners.

The agreement among the firms in the Treasury Department-backed Hope Now alliance, which is scheduled to be announced Tuesday, comes as U.S. Senate lawmakers prepare to begin debate this week on a massive housing package aimed at slowing the record pace of foreclosures that continues to roil the economy. That legislation, which includes a program to refinance up to $300 billion in troubled mortgages, could be voted on by the Senate this week, sources said.

The Hope Now agreement pledges to have lenders and servicers take a uniform approach when dealing with homeowners, including setting a specific timeline for them to respond to borrowers seeking to avoid foreclosure.

Associated Press Construction progressed last month on new homes in Portland, Ore.

Borrowers seeking help should receive an acknowledgment of their request within five business days once received by the lender, the agreement says, and would in most cases receive a final decision on whether they will receive help with their loan within 45 days. Lenders would also promise to stay in touch with borrowers while reviewing a particular loan -- calling, emailing or sending a letter about the status of their help request

Lenders and servicers have also agreed to other steps, including the automatic subordination of second liens in certain circumstances. The question of how to deal with second lien holders has slowed efforts to modify loans and work with borrowers, but the servicers' agreement suggests that a second lien holder should re-subordinate their loans to allow refinancing or a loan modification under certain conditions.

The agreement expands other options available to lenders to help borrowers avoid foreclosure. In addition to forbearance, repayment plans and loan modifications -- including a writedown on a loan's principle -- the agreement directs lenders to accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure or a short sale instead of completing the foreclosure process.

The short-sale language is new, and pledges Hope Now members to accommodate a homeowner's effort to sell their house at the current fair market value, even if that value is less than the borrower owes on their mortgage.

More generally, the agreement calls on servicers to delay foreclosure proceedings that are about to begin, or have already begun, when there is a possibility that other steps could allow a homeowner to remain in their residence.

People familiar with the agreement, which all Hope Now members had to sign off on, said the intent is to bring clarity and transparency to the alliance's efforts, giving homeowners a better understanding when they seek help with their loans. Though not legally binding, all Hope Now participants are expected to implement the new uniform standards within 60 days.

Hope Now claims its efforts have resulted in nearly 1.6 million loan workouts since July 2007, though those numbers have been met with skepticism from policymakers and regulators who have repeatedly called for more aggressive voluntary efforts by the mortgage industry.

A report released last week by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees national banks, suggested a lower figure for loan workouts. The study, which was based on six months of data from 23 million mortgages held or serviced by nine national banks, found that there had been close to 167,000 loan modifications or payment plans through March of this year.

Meanwhile, foreclosures around the country continue to show few signs of abating. Foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Friday that one in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in May, the highest monthly foreclosure rate since the firm first started issuing its report in January 2005.

Write to Michael R. Crittenden at michael.crittenden@dowjones.com

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