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Freddie Mac says it cut its total mortgage portfolio by an annualized rate of 5.2 percent in August. The GSE has been downsizing for most of this year. Only two months during the early part of 2010 saw increases in the company's portfolio size. The GSE also reported that its single-family delinquency rate decreased to 3.83 percent in August, down from 3.89 percent the month before. The multifamily delinquency rate, on the other hand, increased to 0.32 percent, up from 0.30 percent in July.

State and federal regulators stepped in to shut down the operations of two community-based lenders over the weekend -- Haven Trust Bank Florida in Ponte Vedra Beach and North County Bank in Arlington, Washington. So far this year, 127 names have landed on the FDIC's failed-bank list. The real estate and financial crises have taken their toll on the nation's banking system. Institutional closings in 2010 are well on pace to surpass the 140 bank seizures that characterized 2009.

According to a statement released by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the companies are in the process of developing the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) to improve the quality and consistency of appraisal data on loans delivered to the GSEs. Business and technical details of the UAD, implementation dates for the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP), and use of the UAD and UCDP are expected to be released later this year. Implementations will occur in 2011.

The August Mortgage Monitor report released Friday by Lender Processing Services shows that foreclosure starts are continuing to accelerate, with the GSEs displaying more aggressive timelines on early stage delinquencies. Last month, the company tracked 282,528 newly initiated foreclosures. That's 20 percent above a year ago and the highest level recorded by LPS since January of this year, when there were 287,865. As of August month end, there had been more than 2 million foreclosure starts so far this year.

Banks that sold bad mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a contractual obligation to buy the loans back, according to their regulator. But many of the nation's largest institutions aren't living up to their end of that commitment. The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency says that as of the end of the second quarter, Fannie Mae had $4.7 billion in outstanding repurchase requests, and Freddie Mac had $6.4 billion -- more than a third of which have been outstanding for more than 90 days.

According to the national nonprofit Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), economists estimate that close to 4 million homeowners will face delinquency in the near future. In an effort to help thwart this assessment, HPF works to provide information and financial education to guide consumers toward sustainable homeownership. The foundation reports that its Homeowner's HOPE Hotline has aided more than 4 million distressed homeowners since the financial crisis began in 2008.

According to the Warren Group, a Boston-based provider of real estate data in New England, foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts reached its highest number in more than a year, jumping to 2,713 in August-a 13.23 percent increase from a year ago, according to the Boston-based research firm the Warren Group. More than 1,200 foreclosure deeds were recorded in August, an increase for the eighth straight month.

The weekly reports on mortgage interest rates were mixed this week - but figures are still lingering close to record-lows, improving affordability for both homebuyers and borrowers looking to refinance. Freddie Mac reported Thursday that both the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate and the 15-year fixed-rate were unchanged from last week, while shorter-term rates were mixed. Bankrate said mortgage rates across the board dropped to new record lows it its study.

With the foreclosure crisis still raging, the nation's largest mortgage financier has amassed a hefty portfolio of repossessed homes. Fannie Mae took back 68,838 foreclosed properties in the second quarter alone. In the first quarter of this year, the company added 61,929 new REOs to its inventory. In an effort to increase sales of its foreclosed inventory and get these properties off its books, Fannie Mae said Thursday that it is offering additional incentives to both buyers and sellers of its REO homes.

The Treasury issued a new directive of the Making Home Affordable (MHA) program this week. Also known as the Dodd-Frank Certification Requirement, it provides guidance on borrower certification for non-GSE loans participating in the program. The new requirement states that borrowers are not eligible to receive assistance through MHA if they have been convicted of felony larceny, theft, fraud, or forgery; money laundering; or tax evasion in connection with a mortgage or real estate transaction within the last 10 years.