WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Wednesday urged banks and other financial institutions to consider loan modification plans for borrowers affected by the government shutdown, which is now in its second week.

Reports that the ceiling on government-backed mortgages may fall at the start of 2014 have much of the housing industry up in arms.

Banks tightened their small-business lending in September after three months in which they approved more loans, a slowdown that could reflect banks' anxiety over the government shutdown.

An estimated 48,000 foreclosures were completed in the U.S. in August, down from 72,000 in August 2012, a decrease of 34%, reports CoreLogic.

TGR Financial in Naples, Fla., has agreed to buy Shamrock Bank of Florida.

Century Bancorp (CNBKA) in Medford, Mass., said Thursday that its third-quarter profit fell slightly due to a decline in loan balances.

Plaza Bank in Irvine, Calif., has hired Michael Vantrease as an executive vice president and its chief administrative officer.

Hopefully, examiners will respect good-faith efforts by banks and third-party processors to verify that a merchant’s business is legal – rather than expect financial institutions to guarantee how courts will decide.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. urged a U.S. judge to reject a proposed $500 million class-action settlement between Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit and investors in devalued mortgage-backed securities.

H&R Block Inc.'s plan to sell its bank and exit Federal Reserve oversight stalled as Republic Bancorp Inc. said it rescinded a plan to buy the unit.

Consumer delinquencies rose a bit in a range of loan categories in the second quarter ended June 30 as a sluggish economy weighed on borrowers' ability to pay down debt, the American Bankers Association reported on Tuesday.

Think twice about buying a far-away bank. Consider getting into equipment leasing. Trust your instincts in credit decisions. Those are among the insights from a slew of research papers on community banks presented at a Federal Reserve conference last week.

Jacksonville Bancorp (JAXB) in Florida is planning a reverse stock split that would allow its shares to keep trading on the Nasdaq exchange.

Lenders are increasingly anxious about how to deal with the Department of Housing and Urban Development's recent proposal concerning the definition of "qualified mortgages," noting the agency's plan differs in key respects from the CFPB's QM rule.

First National Bank of New York is selling to Bridge Bancorp 18 months after its recapitalization because additional capital was elusive. For Bridge, the deal expands its reach closer to New York City. Similar scenarios will happen elsewhere.

A government guarantee must be accompanied by an obligation to responsibly serve creditworthy borrowers. Without that mechanism, many creditworthy taxpayers will be left with no access.

Pulaski Financial (PULB) in St. Louis is losing the president of its mortgage division.

O'Neill, a co-founder of Sandler O'Neill & Partners, knows skeptics are questioning his plan to start an investment bank. But there are thousands of banks and they will always need M&A advice, he says.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is auctioning off roughly $5 billion of nonperforming Federal Housing Administration loans in what is believed to be one of the largest-ever sales of distressed residential real estate.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported continued positive signs about the health of its insurance fund, and said improvement in the industry has also meant lower premiums for some institutions.