CU Companies reported this week that its servicing departmenthas noticed a steady trend of decreasing delinquency loansoccurring in the last six months within its entire mortgageportfolio, and is touting the trend as an indicator that economicrecovery is under way.

The New Brighton, Minn., mortgage CUSO's portfolio includes loans from its correspondent lending and retail lending programs, which are available tocredit unions in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota,South Dakota and Wisconsin, the company said.

“In May, our delinquency ratio was the lowest it has been since2008, coming in at 1.68%,” said Kathleen Nystrom, loan servicingmanager for CU Companies. “While these numbers can also beattributed to the fact that our portfolio continues to grow, ourborrowers seem to be in a better place financially. We have seenfewer loans being referred to foreclosure and more workout plansbeing successfully completed.”