
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991                   TAG: 9103130163
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

DELINQUENCY UP ON CREDIT CARDS

The number of Americans behind on paying credit card bills rose sharply in the fourth quarter but the combined delinquency rate for seven other kinds of consumer loans was stable, a trade group said Tuesday.

The percentage of credit card holders 30 or more days late on their payments was a seasonally adjusted 2.86 at the end of the year compared with 2.56 at the end of September and 2.24 a year earlier, the American Bankers Association said.

Despite the deepening recession, however, the seasonally adjusted average for seven types of closed-end installment loans was 2.57 percent at the end of the year compared with 2.56 percent at the end of September and 2.64 percent at the end of 1989.

"Consumers are reorienting their finances. They're reducing savings, paying up their mortgage obligations, holding their own with ordinary consumer debt and falling behind in credit card debt," said economist Robert H. Dugger of the banker's group.

Another trade group, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, reported separately last week that delinquent home mortgages declined to 4.71 percent at the end of the year, down from 5 percent three months earlier.

The delinquency rate for home equity lines of credit, as measured by the American Bankers Association, edged up to 0.85 percent at the end of 1990 from 0.80 percent.

Delinquency rates often do not rise significantly until well into a recession. And, in the first two months of this year, evidence of economic stress continued with the nation's unemployment rate rising from 6.1 percent in December to 6.5 percent in February.

"Bankers are preparing for the worst: the possibility that delinquency rates will continue to rise," Dugger said. "Of particular concern is unsecured credit such as credit cards."

The banking group surveyed 800 commercial banks, tracking loans in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

The seven loan types surveyed for the closed-end installment rate include personal, two types of auto loans, mobile home, recreational vehicle, property improvement, and second mortgages.

by CNB