September 11th, 2009 by Reed Allmand 
Credit delinquency rates are at all-time highs according to the American Bankers Association.
According to an article on Reuters, U.S. consumers are falling behind on loan payments at a faster rate than has ever been seen before. The mounting number of job losses is seen as a major reason why delinquent payments hit an all time high in the first quarter on both credit card payments and home equity loan payments.
The American Bankers Association keeps track of several delinquency statistics, and then combines some of them to come up with an overall delinquency rate. The rate rose for a fourth straight quarter to 3.23%, which is an all-time high. For a loan to qualify as late in the statistic, it must be 30 days late. One crazy thing about this rate is that it doesn’t include credit cards, so it is actually understating the amount of delinquencies.
The article broke down the delinquency rate into eight different categories of loans. The types of loans are “direct auto, indirect auto, closed-end home equity, home improvement, marine, mobile home, personal, and recreational vehicle loans.”
The article broke down the delinquency percentages individually, “delinquencies rose to 3.01 percent from 2.03 percent on direct auto loans, to 3.70 percent from 2.96 percent on mobile home loans, to 3.47 percent from 2.88 percent on personal loans, and to 1.52 percent from 1.38 percent on recreational vehicle loans. They fell to 3.42 percent from 3.53 percent on auto loans made through dealers, to 2.04 percent from 2.35 percent on marine loans, and to 1.46 percent from 1.75 percent on property improvement loans.”
The ABA also keeps track of credit card delinquencies as compared to the value of all credit card debt. This percentage rose from 5.52 percent to 6.60 percent in the fourth quarter. This is an alarming percentage, and it is easy to see that credit card companies will continue suffering for the time being.
The biggest problem right now is the increasing unemployment rate. In fact, 6.5 million jobs have been lost since the beginning of the current recession. These job losses continue to rise, but the ABA is predicting the recession to end this quarter. Obama and his administration think that unemployment will hit double digits before it starts declining.
Job losses and loan delinquencies go hand and hand, because people use credit cards to pay their expenses while they look for a new job. Now that jobs are getting harder and harder to come by, more people are becoming delinquent.
If you find yourself relating to any of these statistics, or if you feel that you soon will be, you should start looking into all of your options. Many people that become delinquent on credit cards just need a fresh financial start. You should contact a Dallas-Fort Worth bankruptcy attorney if you feel that you might need help.
Source: Reuters
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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