By BIANCA SYMONETTE, Guardian Staff Reporter

More and more homeowners who have mortgages with the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation are finding it harder to meet their payments and that's a likely result of a softening economy, according to an official.

The corporation's managing director, Jerome Godfrey revealed yesterday that the percentage of mortgages in arrears climbed from 25.71 percent of the total portfolio in July to 27.9 percent in August.

Earlier this year, Godfrey and his team urged delinquent borrowers to bring their mortgage payments up to date or face foreclosure. Yesterday, the managing director said the corporation will do whatever it can to help those borrowers stay in their homes.

"Many Bahamians are beginning to feel the pinch, especially in the hotel industry with the workers on a reduced work week," he said. "So we will be working with these persons so that they don't lose their home."

The managing director said depending on the borrower's status several options could be used to assist. The corporation is considering moratoriums on payments, according to Godfrey, who also revealed that officials are also considering allowing borrowers to make partial payments, or to make only interest payments for a period.

"Those are some of the things that the board and the corporation are looking at, but for right now it is a wait and see, to see the fallout we may be experiencing. So we have not advertised these measures just yet but if persons are feeling the pinch at this moment they can come in and we will discuss with them how best we can help them," Godfrey said.

The good news for borrowers is that officials have decided not to place any homes in foreclosure during these challenging economic times. People whose homes are listed for foreclosure may also visit the corporation for assistance, according to the managing director.

"We understand what the situation is now so definitely there would be no new matters going in but unfortunately matters are already in the pipeline but we can work with those persons to see how best we can salvage those accounts," Godfrey said.

In early September, the corporation announced that 81 homes were placed in foreclosure. Back in March it was reported that 817 delinquent borrowers owed the corporation $4.67 million, forcing officials to send out a stern warning to them to update their mortgage accounts, or face foreclosure.

Since that warning, many borrowers reportedly responded positively and spoke with officials to save their homes. In April the number of delinquent accounts decreased to 803 and in May it dropped to 773, according to corporation officials.