The prospect of a dramatic increase in foreclosures prompted California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today to demand detailed loan modification plans from major lenders, especially for those with pay option adjustable rate mortgages beginning to reset.

With 58% of these loans originated between 2004 and 2008, California will be hard hit, Brown said. He said systemic plans must be in place to preserve home ownership and avoid a more painful recession.

"Homeowners seeking loan modifications continually complain that their lenders and servicers fail to respond to their phone calls; that they are asked to resubmit the same paperwork over and over again; that they are told they will not be considered for a modification unless they are already in default; and that they receive no answer to their request for a loan modification and are left with no option but to short sell their home, go through foreclosure, or file for bankruptcy," Brown's office said.