Number of U.S. Mortgages Going Unpaid = 4,594,000

""Lender Processing Services"":http://www.lpsvcs.com provided the media with a ""first look"" at the company's mortgage performance statistics for the month of September.

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The industry's foreclosure inventory continued its downward trend, and while delinquencies were up slightly from the previous month, they were down when comparing the numbers year-over-year.

LPS counts a total of 3,266,000 mortgages nationwide that are 30 or more days past due but not yet in foreclosure. That tally represents 6.46 percent of all outstanding mortgages.

September's delinquency rate is 4.23 percent higher than the rate reported for August, but remains 12.63 percent

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below September 2012's rate. Of the more than 3 million delinquent loans, LPS says 1,331,000 have missed at least three payments but haven't started the foreclosure process.

Another 1,328,000 mortgages are currently winding their way through foreclosure pipelines, according to LPS' data. That total puts the nation's pre-sale foreclosure inventory at 2.63 percent in September, down 1.29 percent from the month prior and down 32.18 percent from last year.

All-in-all, there are 4,594,000 mortgages going unpaid in the United States. Comparatively speaking, the nation’s non-current total stood at 5,640,000 in September 2012.

LPS reports the states with the highest percentage of non-current loans (non-current combines foreclosures and delinquencies as a percentage of all active loans in the state) include: Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, and Maine.

North Dakota has the lowest percentage of non-current loans among states, followed by South Dakota, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.

LPS' findings are derived from its loan-level database representing approximately 70 percent of the overall mortgage market. The company will provide a more in-depth review of this data in its monthly ""Mortgage Monitor"":http://www.lpsvcs.com/LPSCorporateInformation/CommunicationCenter/DataReports/Pages/Mortgage-Monitor.aspx report, which is scheduled for release in early November.