WASHINGTON (AP) — A high-level group of federal officials, bankers and mortgage industry executives meeting yesterday agreed on a goal of keeping deserving borrowers with high-risk mortgages in their homes at a time of rising foreclosures, a key banking regulator said.Financial institutions making changes to the terms of home loans — such as extending the initial low, or “teaser” interest rates on adjustable-rate mortgages — may help ease the distress of borrowers who are making regular payments but facing possible default, said Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Bair organised the unusual seven-hour meeting at FDIC headquarters on the turmoil in the market for so-called subprime mortgages, which are higher-priced home loans for people with tarnished credit or low incomes who are considered greater risks. In recent weeks, the distress has roiled financial markets and stoked anxiety that it could spill over into the broader economy.

Adjustable-rate mortgages are especially prevalent in the subprime market. They are considered higher-risk loans because they typically draw borrowers in with an initial teaser interest rate, which can rise markedly over time.

There was consensus among the regulators, Wall Street executives, bankers and others in attendance that “it will be in everyone’s interest to keep borrowers in their homes,” Bair said in a telephone interview after the closed-door meeting.

“It’s going to be a very challenging task. ... We’re not going to be able to save everybody,” Bair said. But regulators can “jawbone” and try to serve as catalysts for financial institutions to make changes, she said.

In addition to Bair, officials from the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission attended the meeting. Executives of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and from big mortgage lenders such as Countrywide Financial Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. also were there, as were officials from Wall Street firms like Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns & Co.

The meeting comes against a backdrop of mounting pressure on Congress and regulators to do something about rising foreclosures among homeowners unable to meet high payments. Millions of homeowners are said to be at risk of losing their homes in coming years. While a number of politicians, consumer advocates and community activists are clamouring for Congress to act, industry interests and some Republican lawmakers are warning that new restrictions on mortgage lending could choke off credit to those who most need it.

Democrats in power positions on Capitol Hill have started drafting legislation to curb abusive mortgage lending practices that especially target minorities and the elderly, putting people into home loans that they cannot afford to repay.

The home-mortgage business has exploded in the last two decades, with big Wall Street investment firms buying loans in bulk from banks and other lenders and bundling them into securities to be sold to investors, spreading the risk.