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STEVE CHIOTAKIS: No surprise that the housing market is still far from being fixed. And the U.S. Treasury Department is announcing today more ways to stem all those foreclosures that keep happening. The latest steps to help homeowners. And here’s Marketplace’s Jeremy Hobson.

JEREMY HOBSON: The administration has been trying to cut the number of foreclosures by allowing homeowners to modify their mortgages and make monthly payments a little easier. But in many cases, that’s not working. So now, officials are trying to make foreclosure less of a burden on a borrower’s credit record. The plan will be announced later this morning.

The idea is to allow delinquent borrowers to sell their homes for less than the amount left on the mortgage. Or give the property back to the lender, which, in turn, will consider the loan paid off. The difference is the process doesn’t have to be dragged out by months of costly foreclosure proceedings. And the borrower won’t have the word “foreclosure” written in big red ink on future financial documents.

In New York, I’m Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.