ATLANTA — Faced with the choice of saving their business over their home, small business owners seriously behind in their mortgage payments would rather see their business stay afloat, a new study from Experian revealed.

Experian compiled a sample of 2.7 million business owners and analyzed the payment behavior of those owners with a mortgage between April 2007 and April 2008. The study's purpose was to determine the impact of a severely delinquent mortgage payment on a business owner's personal and business credit behavior. Severe is defined as more than 90 days late, Experian said.

Regardless of the current mortgage crisis, 60% of small business owners were more apt to make prompt payments on their business obligations before and after being delinquent. Fifteen percent made slower payments, followed by 13% who paid faster and 12% who paid slower before and after a mortgage delinquency.