Consumers who have [tag]home mortgage[/tag]s tend to carry more debt than those without mortgages, but they manage it well and their credit scores are higher, according to a study released Monday by a division of the Experian credit rating agency. Experian Consumer Direct, an [tag]online credit service[/tag], said a nationwide study found that consumers who have a mortgage carried an average of $24,565 in [tag]credit card[/tag] and other installment debt in addition to their mortgages compared with $4,565 in installment debt carried by consumers without a mortgage.

Credit scores are important because lenders use them to set the terms on loans; a poor credit score can result in a consumer having to pay a higher rate for borrowing. Samah Haggag, manager of analytics, said the results show that higher debt doesn’t necessarily hurt a consumer’s score. “In this case, consumers with mortgages are doing a better job managing their credit,” she said. “When you look at the late payments, the consumers without mortgagees were much more likely to have payments past due.”

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