While the Obama Administration is touting monthly job gains consistently averaging more than 200,000 and a labor market that they say is at its healthiest level since the turn of the century, at least one analyst says that the recently reported national unemployment rate of 5.6 percent may not be telling the complete story.

Speaking at Thursday's House Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "Oversight of the Justice Department’s Mortgage Lending Settlements," some lawmakers criticized the federal government for using little or none of the $36 billion in recent mortgage backed-securities settlements with big banks to help foreclosure victims.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced on Monday that he plans to introduce an expanded version of the bill he proposed last year reduce the number of zombie properties in the state.

Seattle-based real estate and home-related marketplace Zillow announced Friday that it expects to close the acquisition of San Francisco-based online real estate site Trulia by February 17, following the announcement of the conclusion of a Federal Trade Commission investigation.

Three of the nation's largest mortgage lenders have put sizable packages of nonperforming and reperforming mortgage loans on the market for investors to buy, according to a release from New York-based loan broker Mission Capital Advisors. The loans being put on the market are worth a combined $4.5 billion, Mission Capital said. Bank of America has put up approximately $2.56 billion worth of delinquent debt for sale, including nonperforming loans, reperforming mortgages (those in which the borrower was 90 days or more behind but has resumed making payments), and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), according to Mission Capital.

A survey conducted among economists by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on economic growth in the United States released on Friday revealed that predictions have been revised upward for the labor market – which means good news for the economy and for housing recovery.

Counsel's Corner is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with default servicing attorneys around the country about the most pressing issues facing the default servicing industry. This installment features David Biderman, partner with Perkins Coie in the firm's Los Angeles and San Francisco offices.

During a hearing spread out over two days at the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on February 10 and 12, Committee chair Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) pointed out a “bipartisan understanding” that financial institutions need relief from perceived overregulation.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Thursday that it has taken action against three mortgage lenders for falsely implying U.S. government endorsement of their products, according to an announcement from CFPB.

Residential mortgage servicing rights sales and valuation advisory services provider MountainView Servicing Group announced Thursday that it is acting as adviser for the sale of a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac portfolio with an unpaid principal balance (UPB) of about $3 billion.