Mortgage delinquencies increase in 3rd quarter

11/9/2011

NEW YORK — The rate that mortgage holders were late with their payments by 60 days or more rose in the June-to-September period for the first time since the last three months of 2009, credit reporting agency Trans­Union reported Tuesday.

It said 5.88 percent of homeowners missed two or more payments, an early sign of possible foreclosure. That was up from 5.82 percent in 2011’s second quarter.

TransUnion researchers had forecast late payments, or delinquency, to fall for the quarter.

The problems were widespread. Between the second and third quarters, all but 10 states and the District of Columbia experienced delinquency-rates increases. TransUnion’s statistics were culled from 27 million credit reports, representing about 10 percent of all U.S. consumers who actively use some form of credit.