Delinquencies Drop on Home Equity Lines, Mitigating Reset Fears

Home equity lines of credit have been a key area of improvement among consumer loan types, a report Thursday from the American Bankers Association shows.

The delinquency rate for this product fell to 1.57% in the first quarter, down from 1.91% a year earlier, the trade group said.

Home equity lines of credit have drawn concern from regulators because the monthly payments for many borrowers are scheduled to reset to higher levels in the next few years. Falling delinquency rates may help soften that worry.

"Home equity line delinquencies have fallen back to what they were five years ago," ABA Chief Economist James Chessen said in a press release.

Broadly, consumer loan delinquencies remained near record lows in the first quarter. The ABA's composite index of eight types of closed-end loans rose four basis points from the fourth quarter to 1.63%—just a few basis points above its all-time low.

Related:

HELOC Resets Could Force Lenders to Rework Loans Once Again

Regulators Issue New Guidelines on Home Equity Lines of Credit

Feds Lack Options to Help HELOC Borrowers as Resets Loom

This article originally appeared in American Banker.
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