Mortgage servicing companies are expected to report Thursday that they have started trial mortgage modifications for about 500,000 struggling homeowners under the Obama Administration’s foreclosure prevention program, achieving an Administration goal a month ahead of schedule.

In August, the administration -- frustrated by the soaring number of foreclosures -- pushed servicing companies to accelerate mortgage modifications, asking them to initiate at least 500,000 trial loan restructurings by Nov. 1.

A financial industry source involved in the effort said Wednesday that a Treasury Department report to be issued Thursday will disclose that more than 50 servicing companies have approved about that number of 90-day trial modifications through September.

“This demonstrates that the program is working and demonstrates the industry’s commitment to helping homeowners,” said Scott Talbott, senior vice president of the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents about 100 of the nation’s top financial firms.

The modifications are being made through the government’s Making Home Affordable Program, under the administration’s $75 billion Home Affordability Modification Program. You can read more about them at http://www.financialstability.gov/roadtostability/homeowner.html.

Through August, servicing companies had approved trial modifications for 360,000 applicants. The companies were expected to begin approving thousands of them for permanent loan changes starting this month.

When the White House announced its mortgage assistance programs in February, it said the loan modification plan could help up to three million to four million homeowners over three years.

Fueled in part by rising unemployment, lenders have pushed more than two million homeowners into the foreclosure process so far this year, according to a recent RealtyTrac report. Government officials have predicted that up to six million homes could be lost to foreclosure in the current economic crisis.

Servicing companies include JPMorganChase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Citigroup (C). They process monthly mortgage payments -- as well as manage foreclosures -- for their own mortgage portfolios and for mortgages held by private investors like pension funds and hedge funds.

In most modifications, within or outside of the administration program, servicers reduce monthly payments by agreeing to lower interest charges for several years.

Critics say the Treasury program does little to help the fastest-growing group of homeowners facing foreclosure -- those that have lost their jobs. Members of Congress and the administration have been considering new initiatives to assist unemployed homeowners, such as offering them short-term government loans to help them make monthly payments.