Amid record foreclosure filings and plummeting home prices, U.S. government officials Thursday announced plans to broaden their efforts to help troubled homeowners and ease the housing crisis.

Officials announced two new programs - one aimed at giving mortgage servicers incentives to relocate troubled homeowners to a home they can afford and another that will provide lenders incentives to modify loans in areas where home-price declines have been severe.

The Obama administration in March first unveiled key details of its $75 billion housing market rescue plan - known as the Making Home Affordable Program - which works by paying mortgage servicers to reduce borrowers' payments. The aim of the ambitious effort, which was recently expanded to help lower the cost of second mortgages as well, is to help as many as nine million homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Despite the new efforts, U.S. foreclosure filings in April rose to a record, according to a RealtyTrac report released Wednesday.

Still, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday said there are welcoming signs in the housing market, pointing out that mortgage rates are low and refinancings are up - signs that the administration's housing efforts are starting to work.

"People want to see progress quickly, but we're seeing a lot of progress in a very short period of time. This is an extraordinary, comprehensive set of initiatives," he said at a news conference to provide an update on the administration's efforts to stem foreclosures. "We're going to keep at it until we get, again, maximum number of people taking the maximum advantage of these programs."

An Obama administration official later added that it could take several months for the program to hit its full stride in terms of servicer participation and impact on the housing market.

Under the fresh initiative administration officials unveiled Thursday to help provide foreclosure alternatives, Treasury plans to encourage servicers to consider a short sale or deed-in-lieu if a borrower doesn't meet the eligibility requirements under the government's plan to encourage loan modifications. Services could receive incentive pay up to $1,000 for completing a short sale or deed-in-lieu; borrowers could receive up to $1,500 in relocation expenses.

In a short-sale, a servicer would allow the borrower to sell the property at its current value. With a deed-in-lieu, the borrower would be able to voluntarily transfer ownership of the property to the servicer. Treasury said mortgage servicers have generally opted to pursue foreclosures instead of these two complex transactions even in cases where a short sale or deed-in-lieu would be a better outcome for borrowers, investors and communities.

As part of the new efforts to protect against falling home prices, the government will make payments of up to $10 billion to encourage lenders, servicers and investors to modify rather than foreclose. The goal is to boost the number of loan modifications in areas of the country that have seen prices plummet drastically.

At the news conference Thursday, Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan provided an update on their housing efforts, appearing with borrowers who have benefited from the Obama administration's housing programs. They said that since the Obama administration launched its efforts to address the housing crisis, 14 servicers have now signed contracts and more than 55,000 homeowners have received offers for loan modifications. Additionally, they noted that government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) have acquired thousands of refinancings for high loan-to-value borrowers who might owe more than their homes are worth.

Even though job loss is driving foreclosures, the administration's housing rescue efforts should help troubled borrowers refinance and stay in their homes, said Donovan. "A modification or a refinancing is able to help those folks get back to the point where they can meet their mortgage payment," he said.

Both secretaries said they plan to remain flexible to tweaking and enhancing their housing rescue efforts. Under the administration's housing plan, for instance, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance loans for borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth. Currently, borrowers cannot owe more than 105% of the current value of their home. However, an administration official Thursday said Treasury and the Federal Housing Administration are committed to regularly reviewing the regulatory reasons for that cap. While no changes are planned, anything is possible when it comes to program modifications, the official said.

"This is just the beginning," Geithner said at the news conference. "We are at the beginning of progress in these programs."

Meanwhile, National Community Reinvestment Coalition President John Taylor, who also appeared at the press conference, said that while the administration's housing initiatives represent the strongest anti-foreclosure effort he has seen to date, the programs should be mandatory.

"We're encouraged by early numbers, but more work remains to be done to compel lenders to fully participate in the program and to modify loans before they go into default and face imminent foreclosure," said Taylor.

   -By Maya Jackson Randall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9255, maya.jackson-randall@dowjones.com, and Jeff Bater, Dow Jones Newswires; 202 862 9249; jeff.bater@dowjones.com