The August delinquency rate on U.S. mortgages fell 5.1% from last year, according to a preview of the Lender Processing Services (LPS) mortgage report. LPS tracks performance on 40 million mortgage loans in the country. According to the report, 9.22% of those loans are more than 30 days delinquent. More than 4.9 million loans are more than 30 days delinquent but not in foreclosure, and 2 million loans are in the pre-sale foreclosure inventory. According to LPS, more than 6.9 million loans are either more than 30 days delinquent or in foreclosure. A shadow inventory of 2.3 million loans is more than 90 days delinquent but not in foreclosure. According to a paper from Alan Mallach, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, lenders would keep a steady trickle of foreclosures on the market keeping home prices suppressed. States with highest percentage of noncurrent loans were Florida, Nevada, and Mississippi. Those with the fewest were Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota. The company will provide more details when it releases the full report later in the month. Write to Jon Prior.