Mortgage Plan Aims at Refinancing President Obama on Wednesday announced a new package of legislation that, if approved by Congress, would make it easier for millions of homeowners to refinance at today's low interest rates. President Obama's proposal was aimed at two groups of eligible homeowners: about 11 million whose loans are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and about 3.5 million whose loans are privately held. "I am sending Congress a plan that will give every responsible homeowner in America a chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at historically low rates," he told an audience in Falls Church, Va. No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks. The president acknowledged that previous government plans to help homeowners had fallen far short of their goals. In recent months, his administration has scrambled to make a breakthrough on the mortgage front, given limited cooperation from Congress and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The president's latest proposal was aimed at two groups of eligible homeowners: about 11 million whose loans are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and about 3.5 million whose loans are privately held. Only homeowners who are current on their loan payments and have a credit score above 580 would be eligible. The president will ask Congress to allow the Federal Housing Administration to refinance privately held mortgages in a program to be funded by a fee charged to large banks based on their size and the riskiness of their portfolios. The estimated cost of the program would be $5 billion to $10 billion, depending on the number of participants. Only houses whose values fall within F.H.A. guidelines, from about $270,000 to $730,000 depending on location, would qualify. The F.H.A. would use the bank fee to insure the credit risk of taking on the new mortgages, a White House official said. Another part of the proposal is aimed at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which eased some restrictions on refinancing last fall but not enough to help many families that owe more than their homes are worth. The Federal Reserve has called some of Fannie's and Freddie's barriers to refinancing, like risk-based fees for mortgages whose risk the companies have already shouldered, unjustifiable. President Obama's proposal aims to force the mortgage giants to inject more competition into the refinancing market, eliminate appraisal fees and extend to everyone rules that were made to help those with lower equity to refinance. Some proponents of refinancing hailed the plan as a step in the right direction, though there were concerns over the probability of its passing Congress. Mass refinancing, long a goal of the administration, would essentially be an economic stimulus plan because it would lower homeowners" monthly payments, giving them more cash to spend. The president's plan includes incentives for homeowners that choose to apply the savings toward paying down their principal, helping them to rebuild some of the home equity that was wiped out in the financial crisis. Proponents of mass refinancing have pointed out that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can allow homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth to refinance without taking on more risk because they already guarantee those loans. But media reports disclosed this week that Freddie Mac also had $5 billion invested in a type of security whose returns hinge on keeping interest rates high - in effect, the company had bet against homeowners" ability to refinance at the same time that it was increasing restrictions on refinancing. A statement from the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Monday said it was examining the investments and that Freddie Mac had stopped new transactions of that type. The F.H.F.A."s inspector general is also looking into issues related to the transactions as part of a larger evaluation of the administration's oversight of Fannie's and Freddie's investments, a spokeswoman for the inspector general said. But she said evaluations were distinct from investigations, which are conducted in the case of potential criminal or civil violations. Correction: February 1, 2012 An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect name for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, calling it the Federal Housing Finance Administration.