Mortgage delinquencies rise

U.S. mortgage delinquencies continued to go up in June, according to data from the Equifax credit bureau. Of homeowners nationwide with mortgages, 7.23 percent were at least 30 days late with their payments in June, up from 7.01 percent in May and 4.5 percent in June 2008. Subprime mortgage delinquencies were far higher at 39.25 percent. The mortgage delinquencies numbers are usually an indicator of personal bankruptcies, and the June numbers suggest that personal bankruptcy filings will increase. Credit lines have gotten smaller and the number of credit card accounts has also fallen, the data showed.