Millions of homeowners across the country face an uncertain future when it comes to paying their mortgages. They financed their homes with sub-prime mortgages and now may have trouble paying them. But around New Orleans, the situation is further complicated by post-Katrina issues.

“You know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Lauren Anderson, spokesperson for Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans, a group at the forefront of helping local homeowners deal with the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

It’s a problem because those homeowners are now facing a substantial hike in their mortgage interest rates. And in the metro area, it's a crisis far more complex than it is elsewhere.

“As with everything else, for those of us who live in the New Orleans region, our lives are so much more complicated than the rest of the country,” Anderson said.

That's because homeowners here deal with other housing problems, including higher homeowner’s insurance rates and storm damaged homes. But in some cases, those factors could actually end up helping some people.

"Particularly in the New Orleans region, mortgage lenders tend to be a little bit more understanding that our circumstances are different,” Anderson said.

However, that understanding will only extend so far. This week, President George W. Bush announced a plan to freeze interest rate hikes for five years.

“The homeowners deserve our help. The steps I've outlined today are a sensible response to a serious challenge,” Bush said.

But the plan only extends to homeowners who got into sub-prime mortgages in 2005 and 2006 and have not missed a payment. It’s a plan that federal officials hope will be enough to keep the crisis at bay.

"Modifications are preferable to wide-scale foreclosures, which hurt not only borrowers, but neighborhoods, communities and—potentially—the economy at large,” said Sheila Blair, FDIC Chairperson.

Credit and housing advocates said in the big picture, some of those loans shouldn’t have been made in the first place because people overextended themselves and what they thought they could pay.

“We live in a society that encourages people to try and get more than they can afford,” Anderson said.

And those advocates said if there's anything to have been learned by all this, it’s that people need to try and live within their means.

Mortgage options have become so complex now, they said that buyers need to take a class to become more familiar with it all.

The federal government has set up a toll-free number for homeowners needing help with their sub-prime mortgages. That number is 1-888-995-HOPE (4673). Locally, if you're a homeowner needing assistance, or for information on home buying classes, contact the non-profit "Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans" at (504) 899-5900 or go to www.nhsnola.org.