Late mortgage payments up in third quarter, 1st rise in years

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

Tuesday, November 08, 2011, 8:14 AM

NEW YORK -- While lawmakers in Washington debated the debt ceiling and consumer confidence dropped, more homeowners in the U.S. were having a harder time making their mortgage payments.

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, according to TransUnion.

The credit reporting agency 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 the second quarter of 2011.

The increase surprised TransUnion researchers, who previously forecast late payments, or delinquency, to fall for the quarter.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/11/late_mortgage_payments_up_in_t.html