The U.S. Federal Reserve presented a report detailing its efforts to help Americans cope with the foreclosure crisis, and Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech that federal banking regulators expect preliminary results of their review of the nation�s latest foreclosure mess to be ready next month.

�We are looking intensively at the firms� policies, procedures and internal controls related to foreclosures and seeking to determine whether systematic weaknesses are leading to improper foreclosures,� Bernanke said at a Fed and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sponsored conference on foreclosures and the future of housing finance. Bernanke didn�t address monetary policy or the economic outlook in his speech.

Following the financial crisis, the Fed last year launched a controversial $1.7 trillion bond-buying program to help keep mortgage rates low. What�s less known is that the central bank has also been working to respond to the foreclosure crisis on �Main Street,� using its research and regulation functions to support foreclosure prevention and neighborhood stabilization strategies in local communities.

The report, presented alongside a Chicago Fed housing conference with Bernanke, comes amid recent concerns about questionable foreclosures, along with the recent frenzy of disclosures about so-called robo-signers who raced through paperwork without reviewing it.

U.S. banking regulators have been reviewing reports that some of the nation�s largest mortgage servicers are improperly foreclosing on homes, using questionable practices and making significant errors along the way. �We take violations of proper procedures seriously,� Bernanke said.

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(Read More: WSJ)