WASHINGTON — Homeowners threatened with foreclosure would in some instances get a 30-day reprieve under an initiative the Bush administration announced yesterday. Critics attacked the proposal as far short of what is needed to resolve a serious financial crisis that is threatening millions of families with the loss of their homes.

Under the new program, six of the nation's largest financial institutions said they will begin contacting homeowners who are 90 or more days overdue on their monthly mortgage payments. The homeowners will be given the opportunity to put the foreclosure process on pause for 30 days while the lenders look for a way to make the mortgage more affordable.

The new program will be available to the holders of all types of mortgages from prime to subprime and represents a widening of an initiative announced by President Bush in December that offers a freeze on subprime mortgage rates that are scheduled to reset to sharply higher rates for borrowers who qualify for the assistance.

Critics said much more assistance will be needed to prevent what is expected to be a tidal wave of foreclosures in the coming two years.

"A monthlong moratorium on mortgage foreclosure is like a Band-Aid when the patient really needs surgery," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

"Homeowners at risk of foreclosure are floating 50 feet from shore while Project Lifeline throws them a 30-foot rope," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Durbin is pushing legislation that would let homeowners facing foreclosure alter the terms of their mortgages in bankruptcy proceedings to make their payments more affordable.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said the new mortgage moratorium "will not stem the tide of the millions of foreclosures we are facing in the coming months."