The program, included in a housing bill passed by lawmakers over the summer, was launched Oct. 1. But there are concerns that lenders will not take part because they have to agree to reduce the value of a loan and take a loss.

“We’re concerned that the program - as constructed today - is limiting people’s availability,” the secretary of housing and urban dvelopment, Steve Preston, said in an interview with Associated Press writers and editors.

In its current design, lenders have to take a big loss. They must absorb the difference between the current mortgage’s value and a new loan for 90 percent of the house’s current appraised value. One potential change is to make the new loan around 97 percent of the current home value, thus requiring lenders to take a smaller loss, said Preston.

Making that change and others “would open up participation in the program,” he said.