On the heels of the Federal Housing Finance Agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós announcement of its revised representation and warranty guidelines comes news that Freddie Mac will be increasing its repurchase claims in the near future. The revised rep and warranty guidelines were designed to provide more clarity in the market, but in the meantime, the FHFA Office of Inspector General reports Freddie Mac will increase repurchase requests to between $0.8 billion and $1.2 billion this year and between $2.2 billion and $3.4 billion overall.

Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, met with general praise and a few pointed concerns Thursday when he addressed the Senate Banking Committee when he presented the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós semi-annual report. While most members of the committee praised the Bureau├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós progress thus far, a few questioned the extent of its authority and the implications of some of its actions. He said the agency has received 72,297 consumer complaints thus far, noting that complaints have ramped up over the past year.

The housing market is seeing signs of recovery, and this recovery may be bolstered by the new representation and warranty framework the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday, according to Fitch. Relying on signing offers and home tours as a future indicator of home sales, Redfin, a technology-driven real estate broker, predicts the market improvement seen this summer will continue into the fall. Offers fell 4 percent in August.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released new representations and warranty guidelines for lenders Tuesday to clarify lenders├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó risk regarding repurchase claims and define steps lenders can take to challenge repurchase claims they feel are without grounds. Under the new guidelines, if a loan is current for 36 consecutive months, lenders ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£will be relieved of certain repurchase obligations,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Lexington Realty Trust, a national realty investment trust that owns, manages, and invests in single-tenant office, industrial, and retail properties, announced a multi-million-dollar acquisition Thursday with a transaction value of about $480 million. Lexington is acquiring Inland American Sub├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós portion of Net Lease Strategic Assets Fund L.P., which was a joint venture between Inland and Lexington. Lexington has owned and managed these properties for the past several years, since prior to 2007 when it entered the venture with Inland to create Net Strategic Assets Fund.

SunTrust is taking steps to improve its position in the market. The bank has continued to grow its mortgage banking division, which earned $258 million last quarter, according to FBR Capital Markets. While this was offset by repurchase provisions, the bank has now settled short-term losses, leaving FBR with expectations of profitability ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£especially as the refi boom continues.├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø FBR expects SunTrust will bring in $531 million from its mortgage banking division this year and close to twice that next year.

Amid uncertainty regarding another stimulus from the Fed, mortgage rates generally declined over the week last week. In his recent speech, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£left the door wide open├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø for further stimulus, according to Bankrate.com. Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft reports mortgage rates ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£were little changed├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø overall last week. According to the GSE, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.55 percent, demonstrating a decline from both the previous week and last year.

After some community banks expressed concerns that FDIC examinations ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£were being conducted without clear standards or consistent application of agency policies and procedures, which could discourage business growth and responsible lending,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø the FDIC conducted a report to review its examination process. Major findings of the recently-released report include that timelines for report completion often lengthens as institution ratings worsen, and these challenges are rare and even more rarely sustained.

Adverse selection is leading to rating downgrades for ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£one of the strongest U.S. residential mortgage vintages,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø the pre-2005 vintage, according to Fitch Ratings. Residential mortgage-backed securities formed before 2005 "have historically performed well," according to Fitch. In fact, more than 93 percent have already been repaid in full, and principal losses account for less than 1 percent of the $650 billion vintage. Fitch has placed several classes from the pre-2005 vintage on "Rating Watch Negative."

For the fourth consecutive quarter, the mortgage industry posted a net gain in jobs, according to Mortgage Daily├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Second Quarter 2012 Mortgage Employment Index. However, the net gain reported in the second quarter is well under the gain reported for the first quarter of the year. According to the report, 1,335 jobs were added to the mortgage industry in the second quarter, down from 2,969 added in the first quarter but up from a net loss of 464 jobs a year ago. The net gain is the result of 5,580 hirings and 4,245 layoffs in the sector over the second quarter.