MIAMI (AP) – In Judge A. Jay Cristol’s bankruptcy court, the bench shakes and a deep thud reverberates throughout the room as he stamps one of many documents that mark the steady progress of a case.

It’s a sound that is sure to be heard more often if Congress gives him and judges around the country the power to renegotiate a homeowner’s mortgage. The process, known as a “cram-down,” is part of President Barack Obama’s $75 billion plan to stem the soaring rate of foreclosures that helped ignite the recession.

The proposal, which could be voted on by Congress in a month or two, is already drawing fire from the mortgage industry. The move would force lenders to the negotiating table and could hurt the coffers of banks and investors holding mortgages.

But a growing number of people – from housing advocates to bankruptcy attorneys to judges like Cristol – believe it may be the best hope to keep people in their homes.

“We can’t help them all, but we can help a lot of them ameliorate the situation somewhat,” Cristol said.

Obama’s plan is part of a carrot and stick approach to dealing with a crisis in which 2.3 million households received foreclosure filings last year.

About one in four with a mortgage owes more to the bank than their properties are worth, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at economic forecasting firm Moody’s Economy.com.

Mary Reyes, a consumer bankruptcy attorney in Miami, keeps a list of people who are anxiously waiting for the cram-down idea to become law.

“It’s extremely necessary,” Reyes said. “It will keep people from just walking away from their homes.”

Marta Lopez is on Reyes’ list. Lopez has not paid her $1,232 monthly mortgage payment since October after losing one of her two jobs. She had been making more than $2,000 per month before losing a job cleaning offices. Now, she brings in around $1,080 a month working at BJ’s.

Her apartment was valued at $186,000 when she bought in May 2007, but now he can’t make the payments on her 30-year-fixed mortgage at 8.5 percent interest. She’s looking for another job, but Lopez wants quick action from Congress so she can enter bankruptcy and stay in her apartment.

“It will save me,” said Lopez, 58, of Hialeah, Fla. “They might be able to lower my interest rate and my principal and have me start paying for what the house is actually worth, and I’ll be able to stay there.”

Congress is already being lobbied heavily on both sides of the issue. While many Democrats in the House and Senate support the plan, it’s not clear if Senate Democrats have the 60 votes they need right now for the measure to pass.

Ten groups in the lending industry oppose the legislation. The Mortgage Bankers Association has said that new home buyers will pay higher interest rates and down payments if lenders face the risk that a judge could change mortgage terms.