AP - While lawmakers in Washington debated the debt ceiling and consumer confidence dropped, more homeowners were having a harder time making their mortgage payments.

AP - Government-controlled mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may reduce taxpayer risk by requiring more mortgage insurance from borrowers and charging lenders higher fees, steps that could increase borrowing costs, the head of their government caretaker agency said Monday.

AP - Counties across the United States are discovering that illegal or questionable mortgage paperwork is far more widespread than thought, tainting the deeds of tens of thousands of homes dating to the late 1990s.

Reuters - Pending sales of existing U.S.

Reuters - Existing home sales unexpectedly dropped in July as cancellations of pending contracts continued to depress buying activity.

Reuters - The Obama administration is looking for new ideas to shrink a glut of foreclosed properties held by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that are weighing down the housing market and hurting home prices.

New York (CNNMoney) — At least one fear was not realized amid Monday’s meltdown: the concern that mortgage rates would immediately shoot higher in response to Standard & Poor’s downgrade … Read Full Post

New York (CNNMoney) — At least one fear was not realized amid Monday’s meltdown: the concern that mortgage rates would immediately shoot higher in response to Standard & Poor’s downgrade … Read Full Post

Reuters - MERS, the electronic mortgage registry that faces multiple investigations for its role in thousands of problematic foreclosure cases, changed its rules to lower its profile in court-supervised foreclosures.

Reuters - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley will investigate Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, a key player in the U.S.