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Consumers continued to fall behind with their home mortgages in September while issuers closed accounts and cut credit lines, according to a recently released Equifax Inc. Credit Trends Report.
Home mortgages at least 30 days late reached a record 7.65% last month as measured in dollars, up from 7.58% in August, and 7.32% in July. This record rate is a significant increase over the 5.17% rate of September 2008 and the 3.55% rate of September 2007, the Atlanta-based credit bureau reports.
"High unemployment is being reflected in more homeowners falling behind in their primary mortgages," Dann Adams, president of Equifax's U.S. Consumer Information System, said of the report's findings. "As a result, banks and other financial institutions are being much more careful in managing their risks."
Bankcard issuers continued to close accounts and reduce credit lines, according to the report. Since September 2008, there are 88 million fewer accounts and credit lines have been reduced by $751 billion. Delinquency rates also are the highest in five years with 4.36% of bankcard accounts more than 60 days late in September, compared with 3.39% a year ago.
Personal bankruptcies also continued to rise. For the first nine months of this year, filings are 40% higher than last year. Filings already have exceeded one million compared with the 2008 yearlong total of 1.1 million.
Data for the Credit Trends Monitor Report is sourced from Equifax's more than 200 million files of U.S. consumers using credit.
