WASHINGTON — Companies that collect mortgage payments could earn $500 for every loan they modify to avoid default under a plan developed by the federal regulator of the nation's savings and loans.

As millions of adjustable-rate home loans approach reset dates on which monthly mortgage payments will soar, John M. Reich, director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, says his agency's plan could help lower the default rate for homeowners who are in good standing but face financial problems after their loans reset. The plan would be funded from surpluses in mortgage-backed securities,

If the OTS proposal is adopted, it could help offset a worsening credit crisis as regulators and lenders confront the fallout of lax lending practices prevalent during this decade's housing boom.

Nearly 2.3 million subprime mortgages made to borrowers with weak credit are projected to reset at higher rates through the end of next year.

There are fears that many of those loans risk default, aggravating the nation's soaring foreclosure rate, which nearly doubled in the third quarter.

Firms that service mortgages would make loan-by-loan judgments about whether homeowners qualify for a three-year extension of low initial "teaser" mortgage rates.

Funding for the voluntary plan would come from existing surpluses in bundles of mortgages that are sold to institutional investors, Reich said.

Kurt Eggert, a law professor at Chapman University, said compensating loan servicers for modifications to loans is crucial to the plan's success.

Modification "costs them money," Eggert said. "They're just not going to do it unless they get paid."