Margarita McWhorter of Antelope came into the Sacramento Convention Center angry and frustrated Thursday, wanting to cry while talking about her mortgage troubles.

But she left downtown in an entirely different mood after 35 minutes pouring out her story to Jennifer Ngelale, vice president of loss mitigation at Sacramento loan servicer HomEq. Ngelale modified her variable-rate loan to five years of interest-only payments.

"It's $800 a month for five years," said McWhorter, mother of a 20-year-old autistic son. She was recently laid off from a jewelry store. "My payment now is $1,730. That leaves a thousand dollars (a month) to pay bills."

It was just one story among more than 1,000 as borrowers rolled up the center's escalators for a massive foreclosure prevention workshop organized by Hope Now, a year-old national coalition of mortgage lenders and counselors.

Starting long before the 3 p.m. opening, they arrived in cowboy boots and baseball caps. They carried loan papers and copies of their bills in manila folders and handbags. They came from Vaca-ville, from all over Sacramento and from little towns in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Many took time off from work to meet with 19 mortgage lenders and an array of nonprofit loan counselors acting as no-cost intermediaries between borrowers and lenders.

All the big lenders sent specialists, who sat behind laptops and conducted conversations with borrowers. Lenders and loan servicers included JPMorgan Chase, Ocwen, HSBC, Citigroup, Wachovia, Wilshire and Carrington, to name just a few.

Thursday's event was the 28th of its kind staged nationally this year by the Hope Now Alliance. It was the alliance's second swing through California this year, following events in March in Stockton, Riverside and Anaheim. Another is scheduled for Saturday in Los Angeles.

Though Hope Now has been criticized by consumer groups and some economists for doing too little for borrowers, the alliance claims it has prevented about 2.7 million foreclosures.

On Thursday, Helen and Henry Taylor of Penryn came to the convention center with a risky Countrywide loan they couldn't afford after their small inn in Fort Bragg went under. They came away from their session pleased.

"They're going to lower it to 34 percent of our income. I said, 'Praise the Lord,' " said Helen Taylor. "That makes us happy. We'll be able to stay in our house."

Borrower Mark Harvey of Sacramento said he asked for a fixed-rate mortgage and a lower interest rate to replace his adjustable-rate loan.

"They said it's possible," he said. "They will call in two or three weeks."

It wasn't all upbeat Thursday.

Tim Wheatfill of Orangevale left frustrated after taking a day off from work. He bought a house at the top of the market in 2005 and owes way more to American Home Mortgage than his house is worth. It was his first personal meeting with his lender after months of frustration on the phones.

"They told me to fax information to them," he said. "I did that six months ago."

Wheatfill said he was leaving Thursday with the belief that his lender isn't really modifying loans.

The larger-than-expected crowd at the convention center spoke to the magnitude of problems in the region. Since the start of 2007, more than 29,000 homeowners in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties have lost their homes in foreclosures.

The crowds were also testament to how much people want to stay in homes.

"The best thing right now is there's more people willing to come in and say, 'I need help,'" said Rosario Marin, secretary of California's State and Consumer Services Agency, standing in the registration area. Lenders have often complained that half of foreclosed borrowers never called them.

The crowds may also speak to a growing change in the climate among lenders. The six-hour Sacramento workshop played out as the mortgage industry is under growing pressure from the federal and state governments to rewrite loan terms and keep people in homes. Nationally, Moody's Economy.com estimates nearly 3 million households have returned keys to banks since 2006.

California has seen almost 275,000 foreclosures since the beginning of 2007, according to MDA DataQuick.

Deirdre and Kevin Vaughn of Vaca-ville are trying not to be among them. Their loan wasn't modified on the spot Thursday, but they sensed they'd get help soon.

"My husband can sleep tonight," said Dierdre Vaughn.

Kevin Vaughn was asked if he believes the call they are expecting next week will help them hang onto their house.

"I sure hope so," he said.

As the couple left, others came into the convention center. On the third floor they signed in with their lenders and waited, sometimes up to two hours, on blue chairs. All were assigned numbers and called eventually into a larger room where lenders sat at tables holding bottled water, cell phones and legal pads. Lenders pulled up borrower records on laptops.

Some who received deals said they couldn't believe how quickly changes were made, considering they spent weeks or months making unproductive phone calls to their lenders.

Roxene Rice of Meadow Vista said she thinks she is on track to get her adjustable-rate mortgage converted to a 40-year fixed-rate loan.

"I think we'll be able to stay there," said the mother of two.

A few hours after the 3 p.m. start, as the workday ended, a new wave of arrivals poured into the convention center seeking reprieves.

"At 7 p.m. we had 1,200 borrowers registered," said Hope Now spokeswoman Katherine McGann. "They're still coming."

Call The Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102. Read his blog on real estate, Home Front, at www.sacbee.com/blogs.