PHOENIX -- Banks are taking big steps to modify mortgages to keep Arizona families in their homes.

WATCH: Arizona Homeowners Renegotiate Loans, Avoid Foreclosure

Twenty-one area homeowners attended a meeting Wednesday night arranged by foreclosure expert Andrew Loubert to help modify as many loans as possible. Nineteen people left with modified loans, including Maria and Cesar Franco.

Cesar Franco said he doesn't make as much as he used to as an auto shop estimator, but the family's bills haven't changed.

They bring in $700 less than their bills demand. Their house could become the fifth foreclosure on their street.

"We actually went to the point of thinking, 'Forget it, we're going to let it go,'" said Maria Franco.

Representatives from the non-profit Labor's Community Service Agency were at the meeting and someone from their bank, Washington Mutual, came as well.

"We are seeing much more proactive efforts by the banks," Loubert said. "So what wouldn't work three months ago, we're seeing happen all day long now."

The Francos got what he hoped for. The couple pay 7.8 percent interest on their 30-year fixed mortgage. Their new mortgage will start at just 3 percent for a 40-year mortgage. That interest drop would wipe out the Franco's $700 shortfall every month.

The agency said it wants to have more nights like this one, but right now they don't have deal with other lenders.