Countrywide reports an increase in loan defaults

Countrywide Financial Corp. said Friday that home loan delinquencies and foreclosures rose in January as more borrowers struggled to make their mortgage payments.

The nation’s largest mortgage lender and servicer said loan delinquencies increased to 7.47% last month from 7.2% in December and 4.32% in January 2007.

Loan servicers collect mortgage payments and distribute them to the owners of the mortgages. Calabasas-based Countrywide services mortgages totaling about $1.48 trillion.

Pending foreclosures increased to nearly 1.5% in January from 1.4% in December and 0.8% in January 2007.

Delinquencies and pending foreclosures increased despite stepped-up measures Countrywide outlined in recent months to help borrowers manage their mortgage payments.

Mortgage loan fundings slipped 6% to $22 billion from $23.4 billion in December and were down 41% from $37 billion a year earlier.

Still, the lender’s average daily mortgage applications rose last month to $2.6 billion from December’s $1.5 billion.

Interest rates have been falling this year, which has fueled a spike in mortgage applications industrywide, particularly as homeowners look to refinance existing loans.

Countrywide’s mortgage pipeline -- loans in progress that have not been funded -- stood at $51 billion at the end of January, up from $35 billion in December, the company said.

Countrywide shares rose a penny to $6.93 on Friday.