The Lede

Consumer credit default rates remained largely unchanged in December, as reported by Standard & Poor's Dow Jones Indices and Experian, New York. 

Expenditures for home improvements should see healthy gains in 2016, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University said.

Offices of the Mortgage Bankers Association remain closed today (Tuesday, Jan. 26) as cleanup efforts from the weekend's winter storm continue in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 22, 2016--Collins, Brian The Federal Housing Finance Agency may face legislation or a lawsuit in the near future as it tries to force captive insurance companies to exit the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

Daily Press (Newport News, Va.), Jan. 22, 2016--Fain, Travis Virginia settled a lawsuit against nearly a dozen of the country's biggest banks, which it accused of defrauding Virginia's employee retirement fund with mortgage-backed securities. The settlement totals about $63 million, Attorney General Mark Herring announced Friday.

HousingWire, Jan. 21, 2016--Lane, Ben New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Thursday that his office is nominating Maria Vullo to serve as the superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, ending a tumultuous period that saw rumors of tension between the governor's office and the NYDFS surrounding the departure of the Anthony Albanese as acting superintendent of New York's top financial regulator.

24/7 Wall Street, Jan. 21, 2016--Lange, Chris The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Ocwen Financial Corp. agreed to settle charges that it misstated financial results by using a flawed, undisclosed methodology to value its complex mortgage assets.

DS News, Jan. 21, 2016--Honea, Brian The number of homeowners in the United States with negative equity, or are "underwater," is about one-third of what it was during its peak reached in 2010, and single-family mortgage debt outstanding is on the rise.

Fox News, Jan. 20, 2016 When it comes to tax perks, the mortgage interest deduction is the third rail -- typically, no one wants to touch it. But Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is doing the politically unthinkable and openly talking about getting rid of homeowners' favorite tax favor. And a handful of other candidates are at least talking about making tweaks to the system.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 20, 2016--Zeng, Min The global scramble to snap up safer assets intensified Wednesday, sending the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note below 2% and restoring an unusual situation in which investors willingly pay more for longer-term bonds than for an equivalent series of shorter-term securities.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 20, 2016--Witkowski, Rachel Overlapping missions and jurisdictions are fueling competition between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, according to former officials at both agencies.

IndyStar (Indianapolis), Jan. 19, 2016--Eason, Brian Lawmakers from two of the state's hardest-hit housing markets--Gary and Indianapolis--have introduced four bills this session targeting urban blight, but those hoping for a major overhaul of Indiana's distressed property laws will have to wait at least another year.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 24, 2016--Hayashi, Yuka Four years after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's creation, debate still rages over its authority.

New York Times, Jan. 22, 2016--Cohan, William D. These days, the "too big to fail" banks have less competition than ever, they get their raw material - cash from depositors - nearly free and they have never had more ways to make vast amounts of money.

BloombergBNA, Jan. 25, 2016--Bater, Jeff (Banking Daily) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is running out of time before the 2016 election could bring a possible change in direction--or an entirely new structure should Republicans take the White House.

HousingWire, Jan. 25, 2016--Swanson, Brena Originally, Citizens Financial Group planned to add 350 mortgage lenders, giving it a total of 700, by the end of 2016. But the goal failed to fully account for the impact of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule that went into effect in October.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 25, 2016--Fitzgerald, Patrick J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay the remnants of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. $1.42 billion in cash to settle most of the failed investment bank's lawsuit over claims that J.P. Morgan illegally siphoned billions of dollars from Lehman before its collapse.

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 26, 2016--Hufford, Austen In the latest settlement stemming from the financial crisis, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. $995 million to settle lawsuits alleging it misrepresented the quality of mortgages backing hundreds of securities it insured.