Are lenders more likely to hold on to the foreclosures they own as they wait for the federal government's bailout?

No. Under the current plan, the federal government would not buy foreclosed properties. It would buy troubled mortgages and mortgage-backed securities that may lapse into foreclosure. If they do, only then would the government actually own these properties.

The government's plan aside, it's generally not in the lender's interest to hang on to a foreclosure, said Kurt Eggert, a Chapman University law professor and a former member of the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council. Hiring people to secure, maintain and sell these houses gets expensive.

"Banks are not in the business of managing property," Eggert said. "They're in the business of getting money back so they can lend it."

-- Washington Post Staff Writers Michael S. Rosenwald and Dina ElBoghdady