Mortgage Delinquencies Jump in Areas Hit by Hurricane Sandy

Mortgage delinquencies have jumped about about four times the U.S. average in areas of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy, according to Lender Processing Services Inc.

The share of loans with late payments rose 3.7 percent nationwide from August to November, the Jacksonville, Florida- based company said in a report today. In ZIP codes hit hardest by the storm, delinquencies surged 15.4 percent in Connecticut, 15.2 percent in New Jersey and 14.8 percent in New York.

Sandy made landfall on Oct. 29, killing more than 100 people, inundating New York City's subway system and destroying waterfront properties from New Jersey's Atlantic City to Greenwich, Connecticut. Delinquency timelines in the three states, which require judicial review of foreclosures, were already among the longest in the nation before the storm struck.

The U.S. mortgage-delinquency rate was 7.12 percent in November, up from 7.03 percent the previous month, Lender Processing Services said. Florida, New Jersey, Mississippi, Nevada and New York had the highest percentage of non-current home loans, according to the report.

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