In foreclosure-related news, a recently released report from the U.S. credit reporting agency TransUnion is causing both consternation and confusion among many real estate experts due to its unanticipated findings.

Specifically, TransUnion found that during the third fiscal quarter of 2011 - which runs from June to September - the rate at which U.S. homeowners were late by 60 days or more with their mortgage payments rose to 5.88 percent. By comparison, the second fiscal quarter of 2011 saw a mortgage delinquency rate of 5.82 percent.

While this increase may seem small, it still marks the first time since the end of 2009 that mortgage delinquency rates have risen.

Clearly, TransUnion officials were caught off guard by this development.

"It's much different than we've been talking about the last few quarters," said Tim Martin, the vice president of TransUnion's U.S. housing financial services business unit.

In fact, all but ten U.S. states and the District of Columbia saw mortgage delinquency rates increase.

In the past, any rise in the mortgage delinquency rates could be readily attributed to high unemployment rates and/or declining housing prices. However, Martin points out that neither of these areas has showed noticeable deterioration during the third fiscal quarter.

So what then is causing some homeowners to be late with their mortgage payments?

Martin theorizes that the U.S. and European debt crises coupled with staggering losses in the stock market may have caused many Americans to experience a lack of consumer confidence and question the wisdom of making mortgage payments on a house whose value continues to drop.

Still, it must be pointed out that three of the aforementioned ten states where mortgage delinquency rates did not increase - Arizona, California and Nevada - have all experienced severe drops in home values during the foreclosure crisis.

(In fact, Arizona had the most improved mortgage delinquency rate in the country in the third fiscal quarter and has seen its mortgage delinquency rate decline by roughly 8.5 percent since the fourth quarter of 2009.)

While TransUnion officials and other experts have yet to determine why the mortgage delinquency rates increased, they are already predicting that they will probably continue to tick slightly upward for a few more quarters. However, they also predict that 2012 will ultimately see an overall decline.

Stay tuned for further developments from our Phoenix bankruptcy blog ...

If you are facing foreclosure, you should strongly consider contacting an experienced bankruptcy attorney to learn more about your rights and your options under Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

This post is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.

Source:

CBS News, "Late mortgage payments up in 3Q, 1st rise in years" Nov. 8, 2011