Loan defaults have exceeded cures for three consecutive months for the six firms of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, a trade association representing the private mortgage insurance industry. But according to MICA’s August statistical report, the gap between the two loan resolutions is narrowing. MICA reported its firms cured 58,094 loans while 68,882 loans defaulted. Slightly more than 50% of loans in August defaulted compared with 63% during the same month last year. MICA reported a total of $780.3 billion of primary insurance in force in August. Approximately $6.4 billion of that accounts for insurance written on newly originated mortgage loans, up 11% from $5.8 billion in July. Insurance applications increased month-over-month in August, up 20.3% to 39,503, as did the actual number of policies issued, up 22.6% to 32,215. MICA firms received 11.7% fewer applications and issued 27.9% fewer policies in August 2009. The statistics in the August report were based on data from Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp. (GNW), Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. (MGIC), PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. (PMI), Radian Guaranty Inc. (RDN), Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. (RMIC) and United Guaranty Corp. Write to Christine Ricciardi.