US President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed two bills into law in an effort to make troubled mortgages more affordable.

The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act would expand an existing US$300 billion program that encourages lenders to write down an individual's mortgage if the homeowner agrees to pay an insurance premium.

The Obama administration said that the program will help between 7 million and 9 million American families to avoid foreclosure.

The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act would authorize US$490 million over two years to hire fraud prosecutors, increase enforcement actions and add funds to the Secret Service and Housing and Urban Development Inspector General.

The two bills will "protect crackdown on those who seek to takea dvantage of them and ensure that the problems that led us to this crisis never happen again," Obama said at the signing ceremony in the White House.

He also noted that the measures would help the still-struggling economy.

"I believe we're moving in the right direction, but I want to remind everybody that it took many years and many failures to get us here, and it's going to take some time to get us out," Obama said.

"The stock market will rise and fall. The job market has taken a beating and won't be back immediately. The housing market still has a long way to go. But I'm confident we will get there," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2009)