WASHINGTON — Underscoring banker troubles on home equity loans, the American Bankers Association said this week HELOC delinquencies rose 14 basis points to 1.10% during the first quarter, marking the highest rate for that loan category since ABA began collecting data in 1987.

In a press release issued by its consumer credit staff, the ABA said bank card delinquencies also increased, jumping 13 basis points to 4.51 percent, slightly above the five-year average of 4.40 percent.

“It was a tough quarter for some people,” ABA Chief Economist Jim Chessen said. “Faced with rising food and gas prices and little income growth, fewer resources have been available to manage debt.”

On HELOCs, the data drawn from ABA's quarterly Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin shows the percentage of HELOC accounts more than 30 days past due does remain “lower than all other consumer credit categories.”

Chessen said more consumers are having trouble meeting their obligations because of the confluence of anemic personal income growth, falling home equity and stock values plus job losses.

The ABA said some loan categories showed delinquencies improving. The composite ratio, which tracks eight closed-end installment loan categories, fell 3 basis points to 2.62 percent. “This was largely due to a decline in indirect auto loan delinquencies, which fell 4 basis points to 3.09 percent,” said the trade group.