Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has proposed a three-point legislative plan to help both homeowners and renters facing foreclosure pressure, including a statewide moratorium on all foreclosures.

Rell’s proposal includes a six-month moratorium on all foreclosures – during which homeowners would be required to continue paying interest and taxes – and a mandatory, 60-day mediation period on all contested foreclosures.

As a safeguard for renters, owners of properties with five or fewer rental units will be required to notify tenants within seven days of receiving a notice of foreclosure or filing for protection from creditors under bankruptcy laws.

The bill is complemented by the state’s plan to distribute $25 million in federal funds to help communities around the state deal with the foreclosure crisis, the governor said.

“These are common-sense protections and precautions that will help Connecticut residents hang on to the single greatest asset most of us will ever have – our homes,” Rell said in a statement. “They will also ensure that renters are not inadvertently caught up in a financial whirlwind over which they have no control at all. Banks and other mortgage lenders do not ‘win’ in situations like this by foreclosing on property. Both they and the homeowner have much more to gain by working together to find a mutually acceptable payment program.”