UPDATE 1-Freddie Mac hires servicers for high-risk mortgages

(Adds company comment, background)

By Al Yoon

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Freddie Mac (FRE.P), the second-largest provider of funding for U.S. home loans, on Tuesday said it has hired a team of special servicing companies in a pilot program to cure its most-troubled mortgages.

The government-controlled company hired Ocwen Financial Corp (OCN.N) and others to take a selected portfolio of loans at least 60 days delinquent for "intensive attention," it said in a statement.

Servicers will use all of Freddie Mac's "workout" options, including a streamlined loan modification program.

Freddie Mac said it will target about 5,000 loans from California, Nevada and other states with high delinquency rates. The loans include "Alt-A" mortgages that were typically made to borrowers who provided reduced documentation on income or assets.

The plan "is designed to help servicers cope with today's unprecedented call volume by directing calls to a specialist with the specific staff and technical resources for handling" the riskiest loans, Ingrid Beckles, Freddie Mac's senior vice president of default asset management, said in a statement.

Alt-A loans account for half of the seriously delinquent mortgages in Freddie Mac's portfolio. Freddie Mac in fourth-quarter results will likely show Alt-A and other risky loans drove steep losses, analysts said.

Freddie Mac last month said its regulator may ask the U.S. Treasury for as much as $35 billion in additional capital to support the company's net worth for the fourth quarter. (Editing by Jonathan Oatis)