FICO: Americans More Likely to Default on Mortgages than Credit Cards

Posted To: MND NewsWire

American consumers are now defaulting on their mortgages in even greater numbers than they are walking away from credit card debt. According to FICO’s® Score Trends Service, this is a phenomenon that is historically unique. FICO said the mortgage default risk for consumers with high FICO scores now exceeds their credit card default risk, even though most credit cards are unsecured credit and mortgages are secured by real estate. There is a parallel rise in mortgage delinquencies for these high scoring consumers. The company said that their analysis of trends in FICO scoring shows that recent repayment behavior has shifted significantly from what has historically been expected. In 2005 bankcard accounts were more than 3 times more likely to become seriously delinquent, that is 90+ days…(read more)