The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on Friday proposed new minimum financial requirements for mortgage sellers and servicers to do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The proposed requirements include minimums for net worth, capital ratio, and liquidity criteria that must be met by servicers and sellers to do business with the GSEs.

Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio ended 2014 on a strong note with its highest annualized growth rate for a single month in five years, according to the enterprise's December 2014 Monthly Volume Summary released Thursday.

Hearings began Thursday for thousands of homeowners behind on taxes and facing foreclosure in Wayne County, Michigan, at the Cobo Center in Downtown Detroit, according to an announcement from the Cobo Center.

New York-based credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's Ratings Services could enter into a settlement for more than $1 billion with the U.S. Department of Justice over the misrepresentation of mortgage-backed securities to investors before the end of the week.

While percentages of homes being flipped nationwide are nowhere near their peak reached in 2005 and 2006, in some areas such as California they remain near their historic levels consistent with home price gains in those areas, according to a report released by Trulia on Thursday.

A new policy issued by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Thursday under its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Program will allow reverse mortgage lenders to delay calling HECMs from a surviving non-borrowing spouse following the death of the last surviving borrower. Such a delay on collection of the HECM from the surviving non-borrowing spouse would postpone the foreclosure process normally triggered by last surviving borrower's death. Under the new policy, reverse mortgage lenders have the option of assigning the HECM to HUD, thus allowing that spouse to remain in the home despite his or her non-borrowing status.

Maryland-based default services technology solutions firm Aspen Grove Solutions has announced the appointment of James Hall to the position of SVP of Sales and Business Development.

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge ruled on Wednesday that lawsuits brought about by Wall Street investors in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can continue, according to media reports.

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has reintroduced bipartisan legislation that calls for more transparency from the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors, according to an announcement on Paul's website. The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2015, or S. 264, commonly known as Audit the Fed, calls for elimination of the restrictions placed on the Government Accountability Office (GAO)'s audits of the Fed. The bill also mandates that several divisions of the Fed be subject to Congressional oversight, including credit facilities, securities purchases, and quantitative easing activities.

Three attorneys from North Carolina-based default services firm Hutchens Law Firm were recently recognized for their work, according to announcements from the firm.