Karan Kaul and Laurie Goodman contend that with taxpayers on the hook when nonbank servicers fail, more regulation is needed in order to reduce risk to taxpayers and shift more of it on to the industry.

While a recent speech by FHFA Director Mel Watt has fueled speculation that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be recapitalized and the conservatorship will end, Treasury said that no policy change is imminent.

Instead of thinking of the foreclosure decline as a contributing factor to the drop in existing-home sales inventory, however, it is more accurate to say that existing-home inventory levels in the years immediately following the crisis were boosted by unusually high foreclosure levels.

Lawmakers and activists that have been calling for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD to sell their non-performing mortgage loans to non-profits saw their wish come true on Thursday.

Federal and state regulators are still probing the bank even after Wells Fargo agreed to a $1.2 billion settlement earlier this month over underwriting practices on FHA-insured loans.

After growing by more than $30 billion during the full year 2015, the portfolio begins the new year with expansion.

Last week, FHFA Director Mel Watt gave a speech at the Bipartisan Center in which he declared the GSEs' lack of capital to be their biggest risk, and that he expects that risk to escalate as the conservatorships continue. Will that risk spur the government to end the conservatorships after almost eight years?

FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said despite the increase in profits, banks are still operating in a "challenging environment."

Less than half of the states have judicial foreclosure laws, yet more core-based statistical areas from these states among near the top 10 and top 25 lists for most foreclosures than CSBAs in non-judicial states.

The news for the housing industry has not been positive in the last few days from the reports of low inventory, rising prices, stagnant wage growth, and disappointing new home sales. Default risk on Agency mortgage loans is increasing as well.