Credit card companies have reported that they have written uncollected payments of 4.58% during the first half of 2007. This is 30% higher than the same time period of 2006. Analysts said this is related to the subprime mortgage crisis and consumers being unable to “roll their mortgage debt into new and cheaper home loans.”

“Recent increases in credit card losses can impart be ascribed to a steady rise in personal bankruptcy filings since 2005. According to the Administrative Office of the US Courts, quarterly non-business bankruptcy filings have been rising since the first quarter of 2006.

Scott Hoyt, economist at Moody’s Economy.com said: “Consumer credit quality will continue to deteriorate as debt burdens and financial obligations rise, house prices continue to fall, credit standards are tightened, labor markets loosen modestly, and gasoline and other energy prices remain high.”

The complete article can be found at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20464621/

Pam