In the fifth serial quarter, the Euro zone banks further hardened their standards and requirements for loans to companies.  This was revealed in their latest survey of credit conditions.
The European Central Bank Stated "expectations concerning future financial action and the business of the firm’s specific outlook initiated the move.”

The assessment declared that that 65% of the 111 banks surveyed by the ECB tightened their standards that were applicable for their loans and credit lines to ventures in the third quarter. No banks showed signs of easing up lending norms. Banks are anticipated to advance and tighten the corporate credit standards to a little more in the fourth quarter.

It also revealed that 37% of the European banks voted and they tightened their standards on the loans that were meant to be disbursed to households. "The overall tightening of the credit requirements for an average consumer credit number and other household lending  is predicted to be stronger" in the fourth quarter per the ECB.

In the US hard cash measured up to the total commercial debt is near a 50-year high.  Undoubtedly, consumer debt seems to be unmanageable; where the late payments reaching an all time record level on credit cards and real estates.

However, the above said issues about home loans and defaults in the US is just a common rumor, because the percentage of the home loans that were past due before 30 is nowhere near the record levels at present.
There is also an advertisement that states “troubled home and auto loans are dragging down the economy as never before”

This is also not completely true. Whereas jointly such loans chopped 1.5 points off U.S. monetary growth in the immediate past quarters, it has been even worse. In the last three months of 2007, housing and auto peeled more than 2 points from economic progress.

Jim Paulsen, an investment strategist stated “Though troubled home and auto loans are worsening the pace is slowing and It's not going to take as much off of GDP as in the past couple of quarters.”