More Texans fall behind on mortgage bills

More Texans have fallen behind in their mortgage payments, the latest industry research shows.

In the second quarter, 9.28 percent of Texas homeowners with loans had late payments, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Thursday.

That's up from 8.77 percent in the first quarter, according to the Washington, D.C.-based mortgage industry trade group. It was the highest late mortgage rate for Texas since the fourth quarter of 2009.

Fewer Texans – 3.39 percent – were 90 days or more behind in payments at the end of June. Those loans are considered the most likely to go into foreclosure.

The national picture improved.

Nationwide, 9.85 percent of homeowners with loans had one or more late payments. That's a decrease of almost a quarter percentage point from the first quarter of 2010. And 1.11 percent of U.S. home mortgage holders went into foreclosure in the second quarter.

In Texas, 0.7 percent of home loans fell into foreclosure during the same period – a slight improvement from the first quarter.

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