Six of the nation's largest mortgage lenders are suspending foreclosures for 30 days, the U.S. Treasury Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development said Tuesday.

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Countrywide Financial Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Washington Mutual Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are chief backers of President George Bush's Hope Now alliance, a private-sector-led effort to help minimize the impact of the housing downturn on homeowners, neighborhoods and the U.S. economy.

The lenders, which represent 50 percent of the mortgage market, will lead Project Lifeline, a targeted outreach to homeowners who are 90 days or more delinquent in the foreclosure process.

"This is an important new initiative targeted to reach not only subprime borrowers, but all 90-day delinquent homeowners nationwide with a step-by-step approach to find individual solutions to individual problems," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. said in statement released Tuesday. "No program can bring every struggling borrower into the counseling and evaluation process, and we cannot help those who choose not to honor their obligations. But Project Lifeline has the potential to offer new solutions to