by Calculated Risk on 3/01/2007 11:02:00 AM

From Bloomberg: Countrywide Says Late Payments on Subprime Loans Rose

Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, said payments were late at the end of last year on almost 20 percent of the subprime loans it tracks for other companies and investors who own them.

Delinquencies of at least 30 days on "nonprime" loans, those made to borrowers whose credit rating fell short of the highest criteria, widened to 19 percent as of Dec. 31 from 15 percent a year earlier, the Calabasas, California-based lender said in an annual regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The rate stood at 17 percent at the end of September, according to the company's last quarterly filing.