Washington ? Only about 10,000 homeowners received permanent loan modifications this fall under the Obama administration’s mortgage relief plan, more evidence of serious failings in the government’s effort to stem the foreclosure crisis.

A watchdog report Wednesday spotlighted the limited success lenders are having in getting borrowers through a trial period lasting up to five months. The biggest challenge: only one in three homeowners who have signed up for the administration’s program have sent back the necessary paperwork.

Elizabeth Warren, chair of the watchdog panel, told reporters that the program is “not working” and that it had failed to make a dent in the record level of foreclosures. More than 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are either late on their payments or in foreclosure, and that number is expected to keep rising as unemployment remains stubbornly high.