Mortgage delinquencies hit another record in 3Q

The pace at which people fell behind on their mortgages slowed during the summer for the third consecutive quarter, but the overall delinquency rate hit another record, a new report shows.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, 6.25 percent of U.S. mortgage loans were 60 or more days past due, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. That's up 58 percent from 3.96 percent a year ago.

Being two months behind is considered a first step toward foreclosure, because it's so hard to catch up with payments at that point.

The rate was up 7.6 percent from the second quarter. That's a much smaller jump than the 11.3 percent rise in the second quarter from the first, and the 14 percent leap seen in the quarter before that. (more)