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

In a press release issued by its consumer credit staff, the ABAsaid bank card delinquencies also increased, jumping 13 basispoints to 4.51 percent, slightly above the five-year average of4.40 percent.

“It was a tough quarter for some people,” ABA Chief EconomistJim Chessen said. “Faced with rising food and gas prices and littleincome growth, fewer resources have been available to managedebt.”

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

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

The ABA said some loan categories showed delinquenciesimproving. The composite ratio, which tracks eight closed-endinstallment loan categories, fell 3 basis points to 2.62 percent.“This was largely due to a decline in indirect auto loandelinquencies, which fell 4 basis points to 3.09 percent,” said thetrade group.