Following Tuesday├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós news that Freddie Mac will not require a draw from Treasury this quarter, Fannie Mae announced the same on Wednesday in its second quarter earnings report. This is the second consecutive quarter that the GSE has not required a draw from Treasury. Before this year, Fannie May required a draw from Treasury for the previous 11 consecutive quarters. The GSE reported a net worth of $2.8 billion with comprehensive income in the second quarter reaching $5.4 billion. This is up from $2.9 billion in the first quarter of this year.

After remaining steady in the first quarter of the year, the Interthinx Mortgage Fraud Risk Index rose again in the second quarter, climbing about 7 percent over the three-month period. Nevada and Arizona are the riskiest two states, followed by Florida, New Jersey, and Georgia, which made its way to the top five list for the first time since Interthinx began tracking mortgage fraud in 2009. Georgia took the place of California, which has been on the top five list since the inception of the index, according to Interthinx.

SunTrust PersonalBanking is under investigation by HUD regarding its FHA loan origination practices. HUD made its investigation known to the Atlanta-based bank in late April, and in a recent filing, the bank said, ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£The Company is cooperating with the investigation.├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø (At the time of this publication, SunTrust could not be reached for further comment.) According to the filing, HUD├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós investigation pertains ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£generally to origination practices for FHA loans.├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø Multiple news reports confirmed in June that HUD had issued subpoenas to SunTrust, MetLife, and U.S. Bancorp regarding FHA loan originations.

In a long-running debate, Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, stated again this week that he does not support principal reductions and does not endorse their use at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After stating his position, he immediately faced criticism and opposition from a broad spectrum of individuals, especially throughout the government. However, DeMarco's decision received a few words of praise as well. Industry insiders and pundits reacted to the decision on Monday and Tuesday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently passed its one-year anniversary. On Monday, the agency released its semi-annual report for 2012 to highlight achievements in the first half of this year. What do the numbers say? For starters, the consumer bureau has received more than 55,300 complaints between July 2011 and June 2012, according to the report. The greatest single source of complaints, making up 43 percent of all complaints made to the CFPB, fell on mortgages and problems encountered by consumers with their monthly payments.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, a federal bank aimed at providing affordable residential mortgages, recorded increasing income and an increasing annualized return on equity in the second quarter of 2012, according to information the bank released to the public Monday. The bank released highlights from the second quarter in an unaudited release and will file a full report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta reported a net income of $60 million for the quarter, up $22 million from the same quarter last year.

Following the recent month├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós change in the national Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales declined month-over-month in June in Miami-Dade County, but went up year-over-year. While the national index moved down 1.4 percent from May to June, Miami's pending home sales declined 13 percent, according to the association and Miami├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Multiple Listing Services system. Miami├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós change in pending sales year-over-year was also more exaggerated than the change reported in the national index.

The Aloha State recently passed three new bills related to mortgage servicing and mortgage origination. All three went into effect at the beginning of this month. The first requires the Office of Consumer Protection to educate consumers regarding fraud schemes aimed at homeowners facing foreclosure. The second offers adjustments to loan originator registration fees and amends Hawaii's Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act to comply with a host of recent changes to federal law.

Five banks failed Friday, requiring an estimated total of $150 million from the FDIC. Banks failed in Illinois, Kansas, Georgia, and Florida with the greatest expense stemming from a single bank in Illinois. The FDIC estimates the failure of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago will lead to a total cost of $76.9 million. Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, based in Hinsdale, Illinois, has assumed all the deposits of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago as well as $14.2 million in assets, mostly cash.

Speaking before Congress Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted a slow and fragile economic recovery in the United States, one that is vulnerable to financial markets abroad as well as fiscal policy at home. Amid the uncertain economic atmosphere, the Federal Reserve will continue its maturity extension program through the end of this year. The program calls for the Fed to purchase short-term Treasury securities and long-term Treasury securities of equal amounts. Bernanke said that the housing market reveals modest recovery.