BofA modifies 12,700 mortgages under govt program

* Loan modifications quadruple from mid-January

* Bank has 13,700 modifications pending

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Feb 16 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) has permanently amended home loan terms for more than 12,700 borrowers under the Obama administration's main mortgage modification program, the bank said on Tuesday.

The figure is quadruple the number released by the bank in mid-January, when it said it had completed 3,200 mortgage modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP.

Another 13,700 borrowers are in the last steps before becoming permanent modifications, it said.

The HAMP program was created in early 2009 as a key component in the Obama's administration's effort to stem the tidal wave of home foreclosures. It offers banks incentives to modify mortgages for borrowers facing foreclosure.

On Jan. 14, Bank of America said it had begun roughly 200,000 trial modifications for customers, which could be approved as permanent modifications later.

It said it has modified 700,000 mortgages for customers through private and government trial programs since 2008. (Reporting by Joe Rauch; editing by John Wallace)