FACTBOX: Consumer credit delinquencies
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumers are missing payments on their mortgages, credit cards and auto loans and going bankrupt with increasing frequency as job losses mount and the U.S. recession deepens, according to data from one of the largest U.S. credit bureaus.
Equifax Inc shared its November Consumer Credit Trends report, drawn from 11 million credit profiles, with Reuters exclusively. Following are data that demonstrate U.S. consumers slipping further into debt while borrowers and lenders tighten credit.
- Total personal bankruptcy filings rose to 131,672 in November, up 37 percent since last November.
- Filings under Chapter 7, which liquidates the assets of those unable to pay their debts, rose 52 percent year-over-year.
- Filings under Chapter 13, the so-called "wage-earners bankruptcy," which establishes a payment plan for debtors, rose 15 percent.
- 36.6 percent of subprime homeowners were 30 or more days behind on the loans for their primary residences in November, up 1.5 percentage points from October.
- 5.8 percent of all holders of primary mortgages were at least 30 days late, up .41 percentage points from October.
- .84 percent of prime holders of primary mortgages were 30 days late or more, up .11 percentage points between October and November.
- More than 12 percent of subprime holders of bank-issued credit cards were at least 60 days behind, up 0.43 percentage points from October.
- 3.9 percent of subprime borrowers of auto loans from carmakers were 60 days behind on the loans, up 0.05 percentage points.
- Equifax projects U.S. homeowners will take $35 billion in equity out of their homes in 2008, down from $800 billion at the height of the housing boom.
- The amount of money owed on bank-issued credit cards fell slightly in November to $834 billion, a 0.21 percentage decrease from October.
- In November there were 424.1 million open bank-issued credit cards, down 1.2 percent from October.
- Credit limits decreased 1.4 percent in November from October to $3.507 trillion.
(Reporting by Helen Chernikoff)
