The Countrywide Financial Corporation, the nation’s largest lender and loan servicer, reported on Thursday that delinquencies and foreclosures in its portfolio were rising steeply, the New York Times reports.

A few hours later, the company became a target of borrower anger in Boston as about 100 people gathered at three Countrywide offices to protest its practices.

The delinquency figures released on Thursday by Countrywide together with the protest, organized by the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, indicate that Countrywide finds itself increasingly at the center of the mortgage storm that began this year.

Thursday’s protest was the second this week organized by a borrower advocacy group and aimed at Countrywide. On Tuesday, ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, organized a protest in eight cities.

Even as Countrywide tried to assure borrowers that it was helping many avoid foreclosure, the company disclosed that its core lending operation continued to fall while delinquencies in its loan servicing portfolio rose.

According to September figures released yesterday, Countrywide financed $21 billion in loans in the month, down 44 percent from the period a year ago. Loans in the pipeline fell 35 percent to $42 billion in the period.

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