McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac says the 30-year fixed rate mortgage hovered at 5.85-percent for the week ending March 27, 2008, down from a week earlier when it hit 5.87-percent. The same time last year the same fixed-rate mortgage was at 6.

IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, a major German financial services platform and bank, is now facing irate shareholders who blame the company for financial losses because of lack of oversight in relation to the bank’s exposure to U.

Brea, California-based Fremont General Corp., the parent-company of subprime lender Fremont Investment & Loan, has been issued a directive from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), saying the company has until May 26, 2008 to raise capital to stay in compliance with FDIC guidelines.

Scott Burns, a popular personal finance and business writer out of Dallas, is recommending in an upcoming column that the U.S. government establish a regulator to oversee the rating practices of companies like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, according to a press release issued by Burns’ company, AssetBuilder.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Randall Kroszner told the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals today that early delinquencies on subprime adjustable-rate mortgages are up. In addition, he discussed how the Federal Reserve plans to provide regulations that will end poor underwriting, while simultaneously keeping avenues open for borrowers and lenders who are trying to sustain activity in the mortgage marketplace.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) announced this week that the conforming loan limit will not decrease from its existing level of $417,000 next year or in the following year. As far as increases in the loan limit, OFHEO also dismissed the idea, saying the conforming loan limit will not increase until cumulative increases in house prices exceed cumulative decreases since the $417,000 limit was first reached.

ForeclosuresMass.com, a provider of foreclosure data and analytics for the state of Massachusetts, announced this week that foreclosure filings in the state are expected to increase 15 to 25-percent this year—hovering above the historic records set last year.

U.S. Senator and Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain drew significant contrasts between his plan for settling the mortgage crisis and that of Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton who recently proposed an additional $30 billion in funding to combat the problem.

The Federal Desposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the main insurer of all deposits made within the national banking system, raised a few eyebrows this week when the agency said it was adding 138 employees—69 temporary and 69 permanent—to its Resolution and Receivership division.

Kansas City, Missouri-based H&R Block Inc. has agreed to part with its Option One Mortgage Corp. loan servicing subsidiary in a deal inked with WL Ross & Co. LLC—a platform run by billionaire investor Wilbur L.