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Some mortgage delinquency is inevitable, but when it starts to grow across a state, the state's economy could struggle.
WalletHub recently determined the states where people are having the most trouble making their mortgage payments —as well as the areas where borrowers are more on track with their payments — by analyzing proprietary user data from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024.
"If you are delinquent on mortgage debt, you typically have until the debt is 30 days past-due (meaning you have missed two payments) in order to get current," Cassandra Happe, WalletHub analyst, said in a release. "After that, the lender will report the delinquency to the credit bureaus, which will damage your credit score."
Read more: Monthly mortgage payments drop for first time in 2024
The state where mortgage debt delinquency is increasing the most is Vermont, with nearly 24% more mortgages delinquent in Q1 2024 than in Q4 2023. Residents in Vermont are delinquent on 7.1% of their mortgages, which is the 14th-highest delinquency rate in the country.
Other states at the top of the list include Nebraska and Rhode Island. Nebraska's residents fell behind on payments for nearly 23% more mortgages between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, but the state only has the 28th-highest total delinquency rate at 6%. In Rhode Island, mortgage delinquency increased by nearly 20% between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. A small number of Rhode Island residents have been allowed to delay payments on their debts due to financial difficulty.
States at the bottom of the list are New Hampshire, with only a 5.21% change in delinquency rates between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, as well as South Dakota and Indiana.
Read more: 'Hidden' housing costs ranked as biggest stress on mortgages
Read more about the 20 states where mortgage delinquency is increasing the most.
