Wyoming’s auto loan delinquency rate was among the lowest in the nation in the first quarter, according to consumer credit reporting agency TransUnion.

Wyoming’s rate for auto loans delinquent at least 60 days stood at 0.37 percent, compared to 0.65 percent for the U.S. as a whole.

In Casper, the rate was only 0.23 percent. Since the beginning of 2007, Casper’s rate has ranged from 0.23 percent to 0.47 percent.

The highest rate was in Louisiana at 1.19 percent, followed by Alabama at 1.07 percent.

TransUnion reported that the average auto debt per borrower in Wyoming was $14,616.94. Nevada was highest at $16,034.

“The availability of home equity for financing auto purchases has diminished significantly in states like Nevada and Arizona, thus contributing to higher auto loan debt,” Peter Turek, automotive vice president in TransUnion’s financial service group, said in a prepared statement.

But Turek noted that even states with the highest delinquency rates showed decreases from the fourth quarter 2007.

With larger income tax refunds, and the fact consumers filed earlier than in 2007, Turek said tax refunds may have helped consumers pay down debt.

The findings were derived from 27 million anonymous consumer records, randomly selected, in TransUnion’s data base.

Last month, TransUnion reported Wyoming’s 60-day mortgage loan delinquency rate also was among the lowest in the nation for the first quarter at 1.41 percent, compared to a U.S. average of 3.23 percent.

Business Editor Tom Mast can be reached at tom.mast@trib.com, or call 307-266-0574.

Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy may allow the debtor to decrease the price of his current car. Oftentimes debtors have automobiles that are worth significantly less than the balance owed to the lender. Having a car that is worth only $10,000 and having a due-balance of $18,000 is not that uncommon. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy the debtor has choices of either returning the car back to the lender and not being liable for the $18,000, reaffirming the debt and continue to pay out the $18,000, or negotiate with the lender for a reduction of the amount owed. The lenders are well aware that the borrower may return the $10,000 car, without the lenders ever seeing a dollar of the $18,000 payment, leaving the lenders with the extra expense of selling the car. The lenders often times are willing to negotiate with the debtors to reduce the balance for their car. Accepting $14,000 for the $18,000 of the balance owed appears much better to the lender than just getting the $10,000 car.

However, lenders also have some leverage. They are well aware that debtors have bad credit history after bankruptcy and will have hard time getting a car loan at a reasonable interest rate. Therefore, lenders are not always willing to negotiate for significant decrease in the balance owed. In those cases the debtors should realize that they do have options, and are not necessarily stuck with paying for the $10,000 car that is costing them $18,000.

If the car is really worth $10,000 the debtor might be better of returning the car to the lender. A car-loan after bankruptcy will have a high interest rate; however the cost of having a high interest rate on another $10,000 car might be significantly lower than $18,000. Furthermore, the debtor can have a co-signer on the loan for the purchased car. A co-signer with a good credit history will allow the debtor to get a lower interest rate. Having assets after bankruptcy may also allow the debtor to put up more collateral for an auto loan, decreasing the interest rate.

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