The scheme involves housing associations purchasing vacant or repossessed homes to fix up and then sell on the market at a discount.

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That may be an overshoot because several major lenders suspended foreclosure and sale of repossessed homes until they are able to clear a way through the foreclosure logjam.

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But in this recession, the US housing construction industry - which largely collapsed between 2006 and 2010 - has failed until now to recover, in large part due the difficulty in obtaining a mortgage, and a glut of cheap repossessed homes dumped on the market by the banks.

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Lenders repossessed less homes in 2012, allowing more defaulted borrowers to sell their properties in short sales.

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The investigation began in 2011, and looked into whether borrowers had unlawfully had their homes repossessed.

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RealtyTrac forecasts that between 500, 000 and 600, 000 homes will end up being repossessed by banks nationally this year.

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On the sidelines, however, there is deep scepticism on both left and right - with conservative Republicans objecting to any more bail-outs, and many Democrats asking why we should help Wall Street rather than the four million people whose homes are being foreclosed, or repossessed.

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Low interest rates, which some think will persist into 2013 or even beyond, may help keep tens of thousands of people in their homes when they might otherwise have been repossessed.

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