Department of Housing and Urban Development ‘Katrina’ Hotline, Mortgage Assistance. HUD has established a toll-free hotline, 1-888-297-8685, and ordered a 90-day freeze on all FHA foreclosure proceedings in stricken Gulf Coast areas in order to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina. The hotline takes calls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT, seven days a week. HUD also urged FHA lenders to ease their rules and undertake mortgage modification and refinancing, and to waive late charges.…