This year's failed-bank tally rose to 63 over the weekend, as state and federal regulators seized control of two more community-based lenders -- Bank of Whitman in Colfax, Washington, and Bank of Shorewood in Illinois. Together, the two closings are expected to cost the FDIC $160 million. Though still elevated, the number of bank seizures has tapered off considerably from earlier in the crisis. At this time last year, the count of FDIC-insured institutional failures stood at 109 for the 2010 calendar year.

The U.S. Treasury Department's top officer is staying put, despite Republican lawmakers' public appeals for him to step down. After speculation that he might resign once the debate over the government's debt ceiling was resolved, Tim Geithner has decided to remain in his post as Treasury secretary, the administration says. Republican members of Congress began calling for Geithner's immediate resignation after S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating.

Congress' last-minute accord to avert a default wasn't enough to save the United States' top rating from Standard & Poor's. The agency downgraded the long-term credit rating of the U.S. to AA+, a grade just below the AAA rating the U.S. had held for 70 years. Analysts were expecting a temporary spike in Treasury yields, which are closely tied to mortgage rate trajectories, but investors responded with a rush on Treasuries, pushing yields down 13 basis points. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks also had their S&P ratings lowered to AA+ on Monday.

The administration has released a new report on its flagship Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Officials say more borrowers are qualifying for permanent modifications, and in less time. The rate of modifications moving from trial to permanent status under the HAMP umbrella is up to 74 percent, according to Treasury. At the same time, conversions from a trial to permanent modification are down to 3.5 months on average, compared to an average of 5.2 months a year ago.

Fannie Mae's second-quarter loss narrowed from the previous quarter, but still in the red, the GSE says it needs to draw another $5 billion from Treasury, bringing its tally of taxpayer-funded support to $104.8 billion since the company was placed into conservatorship. The company reported a net loss of $2.9 billion for the April-to-June period, compared to a net loss of $6.5 billion in the first quarter of the year. Fannie Mae acquired 53,697 REO homes through foreclosure over the three months ending in June.

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil lawsuit against Robert S. Luce, founder and president of MDR Mortgage Corp. a mortgage lending business located in Palatine, Illinois. The complaint centers around 90 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that went into default. According to the complaint, HUD was required to pay more than $1.6 million in insurance claims on the loans, which Luce and MDR were not authorized to originate.

After heading higher for three straight months, the nation's unemployment rate declined to 9.1 percent in July, down from 9.2 percent in June, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. The economy added 117,000 jobs last month. July's numbers beat analysts' forecasts. Investors are hoping the news will help dispel fears of a double-dip recession and quell some of the sell-off frenzy seen in the stock market yesterday, which led to the largest one-day drop in the Dow since the financial upheaval following Lehman Brothers' collapse.

Studies have shown that minorities have been disproportionately impacted by the nation's housing crisis. The National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Inc. (NAREB) is taking steps to ease that impact. NAREB is partnering with Wall Street investors to launch an $800 million Homeowner's Assurance Program (HAP) to bring foreclosure mitigation to minority families and clean up neighborhood blight in their communities.

Data released by Lender Processing Services (LPS) Thursday indicates foreclosure and delinquency numbers are on the rise again. The company says foreclosures were initiated on 217,486 loans in June, up more than 10 percent from May. The national delinquency rate also increased to 8.15 percent. As a supplement to this month's report, LPS examined its historical data and found that nearly half of all loans originated in the U.S. since 2005 would not qualify as a Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) under regulators' current proposal.

Freddie Mac released the results of its weekly rate survey Thursday, showing mortgage rates have dropped sharply over the past few days amid falling bond yields and signs of a weaker-than-expected economy. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has declined to its lowest level for 2011, while both the 15-year fixed mortgage and 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) set new historical record lows. Of the four loan types the GSE assesses, only the 1-year ARM failed to post a decline this week.