Under a new law California is imposing a ninety-day standstill on housing foreclosures.

According to the new law, lenders must put off foreclosure proceedings for ninety days in situations in which they have not made an effort to work with borrowers to modify the terms of their mortgages.

Under the law, lenders are expected to try their best to modify the delinquent loans before they can begin foreclosing.

But many people doubt if California Foreclosure Prevention Act will be able to stop thousands of foreclosures from taking place. It should be noted here that more than 365,000 foreclosures have been processed in California since early 2007.

But those lenders as well as loan services that already have a comprehensive loan modification program in place are exempted from the new law.

President of San Ramon-based CMG Mortgage Services and a board member of the California Mortgage Bankers Association, Chris George said, "The vast majority of them are already in compliance with some regulation or requirement, either through federal laws or voluntary efforts."

The new law is considered better than already existing legislation that requires lenders to wait 30 days before filing a notice of foreclosure.

But, according to Lynda Gledhill, a spokeswoman for Corbett's office only time will tell how many homeowners facing foreclosure will get relief from the much awaited new law.