Equifax: 30-day Late Payments Set New Record

The number of home mortgage payments at least 30 days late in November set another record, according to the Equifax monthly Credit Trend Report. For November 2009, 7.91% of dollars owed was late, up from 7.76% in October and 5.89% in November 2008. Delinquencies on home equity lines of credit went from 3.39% in October to 3.43% in November; for November 2008, they were at 2.95%. Equifax noted there are approximately 855,000 fewer HELOC accounts compared with the peak at September 2008. Year-to-date through September HELOCs opened totaled 761,000, down 47% from the same period in 2008. HELOC lenders are searching for better quality borrowers. In September, the last month for which this data is available, 81% of borrowers who got one of these loans had an Equifax risk score of 740 or over compared with 66% for September 2007. Overall U.S. consumers reduced all types of debt by $575 billion or more than 5%. Home mortgage debt dropped 5.4%.