Delinquencies on U.S. Home-Equity Loans Reach Record

*now it's official (must be since the ABA is copping to it), home equity loans are delinquent at alarming rates. Does this mean banks are not in as good a shape as they say they are? Consumers who have lost their jobs can no longer rely on their cash cow piggy banks to do their patriotic duty (filling the corporate coffers at the trough - and don't forget members of Congress who benefitted from allowing CEO's to buy up as many stock options as possible during share buybacks- board members get shares too) by dutifully buying stocks in these bloated lying cheating corporate hog tying bend over you sucker retail investor who love to buy mutual funds as a way to stimulate the economy in your own backyard, boo yah! IJIOTS

By Margaret Chadbourn
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Late payments on home-equity loans rose to a record in the first quarter as 18 straight months of job losses and a slumping economy left more borrowers unable to pay their debts, the American Bankers Association reported.

Delinquencies on home-equity loans climbed to 3.52 percent of all accounts from 3.03 percent in the fourth quarter, and late payments on home-equity lines of credit climbed to a record 1.89 percent, the group reported today. An index of eight types of loans rose for a fourth straight quarter, to 3.23 percent from 3.22 percent in October through December, the group said.

“The number one driver of delinquencies is job losses, which we’ve seen build and build,” James Chessen, the group’s chief economist, said in a telephone interview. “Delinquencies won’t come down without a dramatic improvement in the economy and businesses will have to start hiring again.”

The U.S. economy lost an average 691,000 jobs a month in the quarter, and more than 6.5 million positions have been shed since the recession began in December 2007. The economy this year will shrink the most since 1946, according to a Bloomberg survey of 61 economists last month. President Barack Obama predicted last month unemployment will reach 10 percent this year. The rate was at a 26-year high of 9.5 percent in June.

Delinquent bank-card accounts jumped to a record 6.60 percent of outstanding card debt in the first quarter from 5.52 percent in the previous period, a signal unemployed borrowers are relying on cards as falling prices erode the equity in their homes. More borrowers are using cards to meet daily expenses after losing their jobs, the ABA said.

Fewer New Cards

U.S. banks issued 9.8 million credit cards from January through April, a 38 percent decline from the year-earlier period, according to data compiled by Equifax Inc., a credit bureau, quoted today in USA Today. The average limit on a new card fell 3 percent to $4,594, Equifax reported.

“There is less equity to draw on and certainly financial institutions have been scaling back the available lines of credit,” Chessen said. Banks boosted reserves for losses on delinquent loans and have adopted more cautious underwriting policies, he said. more...