Consumer and Mortgage Credit at a Crossroads: Preserving Expanded Access while Informing Choices and Protecting Consumers

Eric Belsky, Ren Essene

UCC08-1: Americans are no stranger to debt. In 2004, 76.4 percent of all households reported some form of borrowing. Fully 46.2 percent of all households had at least one person with a credit card balance, 48.0 percent with a mortgage loan or line of credit, 39.5 percent with an auto loan or lease, 13.4 percent with a student loan, and 19.3 percent with some other form of lending. The proportion of Americans that have carried each of these forms of debt at some point over their life cycle is likely even higher…