Troubled assets soar

WASHINGTON — Mortgage defaults are slamming the savings and loan industry, although thrifts should be able to weather the housing market downturn, federal regulators said Tuesday.

Troubled assets — loans that are 90 or more days past due — jumped to $14.2 billion last quarter, up from $9.2 billion in the same quarter last year, the Office of Thrift Supervision said.

And troubled assets rose to 0.95 percent of total assets in the quarter, up from 0.62 percent in the second quarter of 2006.

The numbers are particularly attention-getting considering that thrifts, which take in savings deposits and make mortgage loans, are not big players in the subprime mortgage sector of loans made to borrowers with riskier credit.

Mortgage delinquencies and home foreclosures have skyrocketed this year, causing layoffs at banks and mortgage lenders, such as Countrywide Financial Corp. and Capital One Financial Corp. Leading savings and loans include Washington Mutual Inc., based in Seattle, and Sovereign Bancorp Inc., based in Philadelphia.