The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) says it wants input on a plan to lower the ceiling for loans eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Under FHFA's proposed plan, the $417,000 maximum limit for single-family homes in most areas around the country would be lowered to $400,000, a reduction of about 4 percent. Areas with higher limits would see a similar cut, with the $625,500 maximum dropping to $600,000.

About 6.4 million homes remain underwater after nearly 800,000 homes returned to a state of positive equity during the third quarter, according to the latest data from CoreLogic. The real estate analytics and services provider says the increase in equity brought the share of underwater properties down to about 13 percent nationally, compared to 14.7 percent in the second quarter.

U.S. Bancorp announced the promotion of P.W. Bill Parker to the position of vice chairman and chief risk officer. Parker has been with U.S. Bancorp since 1984, starting his career as a commercial lending officer and working up through the ranks as senior credit officer and EVP for credit policy.

Stonegate Mortgage Corporation, a non-bank mortgage firm focused on origination, financing, and servicing, announced the acquisition of the wholesale lending channel and certain distributed retail assets of Nationstar Mortgage Holdings. In addition to expanding Stonegate's wholesale and retail client base, the acquisition adds more than 200 employees to the company's ranks.

Industry data released Monday shows mortgage fraud cases slumped to a post-crisis low in this year's third quarter. Tracking motions and decisions on cases in which lenders are given false information for the loan decision process, the study found activity during the July-to-September period to be at its lowest since the fourth quarter of 2007.

The Federal Housing Administration's financial picture is improving, with $15 billion returned to its depleted Mutual Mortgage Insurance fund over the past year, HUD reports. Still, the federal mortgage insurer's capital reserve ratio remains below the 2 percent threshold required by law, but FHA expects to be in compliance with this long-standing congressional mandate within the next two years.

Mueller Reports, a provider of property data collection services operating out of New York state, announced its intentions to expand into the valuation space in 2014. Using an employee model, Mueller believes it is well positioned to assist lenders, mortgage servicers, investors, and appraisal management companies in procuring a customized, high-quality property inspection anywhere in the United States.

In Colorado, LenderLive Network Inc. announced the implementation of Adeptive Software's ResWare Platform to leverage the automated workflow technology in the company's settlement services division. The implementation empowers LenderLive to more effectively identify all necessary tasks in real time and perform them more efficiently, the company said.

Fay Servicing, a Chicago-based special servicer, has earned stable outlooks from both S&P and Fitch Ratings. According to the agencies' assessments, the rating actions are based on Fay's robust single point of contact (SPOC) model and integrated servicing technology.

As the newly confirmed Mel Watt prepares to take the reins at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, current Acting Director Edward DeMarco has announced changes to the agency's senior staff. Jeffrey Spohn, deputy director of the Office of Conservatorship Operations, will retire in January. To fill the role, the agency has appointed Wanda DeLeo, who currently serves as deputy director in the Office of Strategic Initiatives. The two divisions will be combined into a new Division of Conservatorship to ease the transition.