A U.S. program to prevent mortgage foreclosures approved about 9 percent fewer applications for permanent payment reductions in August from a month earlier, the Treasury Department said. A total of 33,342 delinquent borrowers qualified for the changes, which cut payments by a median of more than $500, the Treasury said today in a monthly report on the Home Affordable Modification Program. A total of 468,058 borrowers are paying reduced amounts under the program, while 663,538 have had trial reductions canceled, the report showed. Almost 60 percent of people who got permanent modifications had suffered a loss of income.