Consumer bankruptcy filings during August fell 8 percent from July, the American Bankruptcy Institute reported.

The decline followed a bounce in July.

Year-to-date Aug. 31, 2010, filings totaled 1,034,843.

The public was invited on July 15 to comment on three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development initiatives designed to help restore the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund capital reserve account.

More than 900 comments were received by the comment deadline on Aug. 16, a public filing Friday said.

The "overwhelming majority" of the comments addressed the proposed 3 percent limitation on seller concessions.

SIOUX FALLS, SD - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan traveled to a Native American community in South Dakota today to announce $65 million in available funding to support a variety of community development and affordable housing production in Indian country throughout the U.S. Donovan made the announcement following a tour of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota with Senator Tim Johnson.

Five years ago, one of the most destructive natural disasters in our nation's history hit the Gulf Coast. When they hit the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita took thousands of lives, displaced millions of residents, wiped out hundreds of square miles of coastal land, and inflicted major damage to nearly 300,000 homes.

Mortgage rates have held fairly steady since the middle of last week.

A note, sent yesterday, from a reader named Matthew.