Bankruptcy filings in the U.S. finished an up and down year with a slight month-over-month increase in December, but were down overall year-to-date, according to AACER bankruptcy data reported by Epiq Systems. The number of bankruptcy filings nationwide crept up from 62,417 in November to 63,090 in December, a 1 percent increase.

The U.S. job market finished the year on a strong note as total nonfarm private sector employment increased by 241,000 during December, according to the ADP National Employment Report for December 2014.

President Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate former Bank of Hawaii CEO Allan Landon to fill one of two available governor positions for the Federal Reserve System on its seven-seat board of governors, according to an announcement from the White House.

Mississippi was the state with the highest percentage of non-current mortgages and serious delinquent mortgages in November, according to data released recently as part of Black Knight Financial Services' November 2014 “First Look” at mortgage data.

An Illinois court ruled on Tuesday that mortgages naming Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) as the mortgagee are valid and enforceable, according to an announcement from MERSCORP Holdings, Inc.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club (NPC) luncheon on Tuesday, January 13, to address the state of the housing industry and what HUD's plans are for 2015, the NPC announced on Tuesday.

Speaking as a guest presenter at the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday, Fannie Mae President and CEO Timothy Mayopoulos warned against any type of reform where housing finance is concerned, telling the audience that “the (current) system works,” according to a report from the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak about the U.S. housing market at Central High School in Phoenix, Arizona, according to multiple reports. Neither the president nor the White House has publicly announced exactly what he will speak about with regards to the housing market on Thursday.

It is not just the larger lenders that are under the microscope, however; a recent multi-million dollar settlement between a lender and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan showed that the smaller lenders cannot escape intense scrutiny from industry regulators.

A Kentucky man has pleaded guilty for his role in a massive tax scheme and for bribing executives at a Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) applicant bank, according to an announcement from Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP).