Monday Morning Cup of Coffee

A look at the stories on HousingWire’s weekend desk…with more coverage to come on bigger issues. Regulators closed three banks over the weekend, making it 72 total bank failures for 2009. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) estimates that the closings will cost a combined $185m. The Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed the First State Bank in Sarasota, Florida, which costs the FDIC $116m. Stearns Bank will purchase all but $8m of the $387m in total deposits and agreed to buy $451m of the failed bank’s $463m in total assets. The Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities closed Community First Bank in Prineville, Oregon. The closing costs the FDIC $45m. Home Federal Bank will purchase the $182m in deposits except $31m in brokered deposits and will buy $197m of the $209m in total assets. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Community National Bank of Sarasota County in Florida. The failure costs the FDIC $24m. In addition to assuming all $93m in deposits, Stearns Bank agreed to purchase $94m of the failed bank’s $97m in total assets. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac [stock FRE][/stock] reported a net income for Q209 of $768m. The gains come after a net loss of $9.9bn for Q109. After the dividend payment of $1.1bn to the US Department of the Treasury, the net loss per diluted share registered $0.11 for the quarter. Freddie’s net worth at the end of the quarter was $8.2bn, and as a result of the positive net worth, the Treasury will not have to add funding as required under the terms of the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement. It’s provision for credit losses was $5.2bn for Q209, compared to $8.8bn for the first quarter of 2009. “The decrease was driven by a reduced rate of growth in the company’s loan loss reserve due to the recent modest national home price improvements, which the company believes to be largely seasonal,” the report reads. Ambac Financial Group filed a suit against Citigroup [stock C][/stock] and Credit Suisse Group seeking to nullify $2bn in a portion of the credit default swap protection Ambac wrote on risky residential mortgages Citigroup originated, according to a Reuters report. Ambac alleges that the two companies misrepresented the risks and market value of the securities.  According to the report, Citi allegedly told Ambac that the assets were at 96% of the market value when they were worth less than 79%. Also, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics cleared Senators Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad of receiving discounts on mortgages from Countrywide Financial. And, Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced legislation that would force members of Congress to reveal information about their mortgages, included loan date, amount, interest rate and issuer, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.