AUGUSTA — State credit regulators are increasing the number of counselors to help homeowners in financial trouble avoid losing their homes.

The Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection signed contracts with several nonprofit licensing agencies, including Community Concepts of South Paris, to add six mortgage counselors statewide.

Six counselors may sound like a small number, but they’re expected to help hundreds of homeowners, said Will Lund, superintendent of the Consumer Credit Bureau. Existing mortgage counselors have been unable to help new clients because they’re already at capacity, Lund said.

More available counselors “is good news,” Lund said. Their first task “is to calm the consumer down. These are well-trained people who can take the emotional pressure of helping consumers worried about not having a place to live negotiate with mortgage holders.”

Many in foreclosure are intimidated “and let the process take them,” Lund said. “I’ve received 10 calls since June from people who had a foreclosure auction scheduled on their home within 10 days. That’s quite late,” but Lund’s office was able to help some keep their homes through new, lower mortgage payments.

Maine ranks 41st in the nation for home foreclosures. When the housing market was hot, Maine’s home values didn’t have the same dramatic highs and lows as other states.

“But Mainers were subjected to the same kinds of temptations” as other consumers, Lund said, including appraisers who were overly optimistic of the home’s value, or homeowners talked into using their homes as ATMs who ended up owing more than their homes were worth.

That means there were plenty of people in Maine who lost homes to foreclosure last year, Lund said. The exact number isn’t known, he said, but each month there were between 300 to 400 homeowners in court over their foreclosures. There are now 7,000 Mainers in default on their mortgages.

The majority of Mainers calling the credit bureau can’t afford their monthly mortgage payment, Lund said. Some have lost their jobs, others can’t work because of health problems. When the income is temporary, in the case of someone with skills looking for a new job, a counselor may be able to help the consumer by negotiating a new loan with lower payments.

In addition to Community Concepts, the state has signed contracts, or is working with, York County Community Action Program, Coastal Enterprises, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Penquis CAP, and Kennebec Valley Community Action Program.

Funding for the program comes from an assessment on lenders at foreclosure auctions. The effort to assist homeowners was the result of legislation that took effect in September.

The new legislation also says that beginning Jan. 1, consumers sued in foreclosure court can request mediation arranged by the court. That’s another checkpoint to ensure consumers who don’t need to foreclose don’t, Lund said.

To learn more about a mortgage counselor, call the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection at 1-800-332-8529, or go to www.credit.maine.gov. Or call the foreclosure prevention hotline: 1-888-664-2569.