AP Interview: US senator says bankruptcy provision unlikely, but mortgage rules may tighten

Democratic efforts to let bankruptcy judges rewrite mortgages for strapped borrowers won't make it through Congress this year, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said Tuesday.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank told The Associated Press in an interview that the only thing lawmakers can do to get lenders to help struggling homeowners avoid slipping into default is to threaten the lenders with tougher regulation in the future.

"The only other thing we can say to them is, 'If you don't do this, then there are going to be tougher rules going forward than there might otherwise have been,'" said Frank, who plans to meet with mortgage …