Late payments on home-equity loans rose to a record in the first quarter as 18 straight months of job losses and a slumping economy left more borrowers unable to pay their debts, the American Bankers Association reported.

Delinquencies climbed to 3.52 percent of all accounts and late payments on home-equity lines of credit climbed to 1.89 percent. An index of eight types of loans rose for a fourth straight quarter, to 3.23 percent.