A former attorney for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has joined Venable LLP as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced.

Freddie Mac's first-quarter earnings came in slightly ahead of last year's final quarter, the company revealed in its quarterly filing. First-quarter net income at Freddie Mac was $4.6 billion, barely above the $4.5 billion recorded in Q4 2012 but well above the $577 million in last year's first quarter--and the second largest in company history.

The announcement was first made by Governor Dannel P. Malloy at a press conference at the Matrix Corporate Century in Danbury, where NewOak has leased 10,000 square feet of space. The expansion is expected to create up to 100 new jobs within three years, according to NewOak.

In California, Carrington Holding Company, LLC is renaming several of its businesses as part of an initiative designed to bring the entire Carrington family of companies under a single brand umbrella.

ZVN Properties, Inc., operating out of Ohio, welcomed David Dolan as COO. With nearly three decades of experience in all facets of banking, lending, and mortgage field servicing, Dolan has worked to transform both private and publicly held businesses through his leadership, industry knowledge, and consumer insight.

In the latest in its Transition to ""Normal"" series, Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research group examines the residential construction sector, which lost 41 percent of jobs between 2006 and 2011 due to the housing bust. If housing starts return to normal levels in 2016, residential construction employment is predicted to rise to nearly 2.5 million jobs, an increase of 412,000 over current levels. Despite that gain, homebuilding employment is forecast to remain nearly 1 million less than it was at the peak of the housing boom.

The American Land Title Association (ALTA), the national trade association for the land title insurance industry, awarded three National Title Professional (NTP) designations Tuesday during its Federal Conference in Washington, D.C.

In Fannie Mae's monthly National Housing Survey, more than half of those surveyed (51 percent, up from 48 percent in March) said they expect home prices to climb in the next year, while 10 percent--flat for the fourth straight month--expect declines. Thirty-five percent expect no changes. April's report marks the first time in the survey's three-year history that more than half of respondents projected price gains.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to limit future loan purchases to those that meet the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) criteria for ""qualified mortgage"" loans. In a release, FHFA said that beginning January 10, 2014, the GSEs will no longer purchase loans subject to CFPB's ""ability to repay"" rule if those loans are not fully amortizing, have terms of longer than 30 years, or include points and fees in excess of 3 percent.

According to NAHB, the number of housing markets showing ""sustained improvement"" fell to 258 from April's 273. The index, put together by NAHB and First American Title, tracks housing permits, employment, and home prices in markets across the country. ""While seasonal trends in home prices resulted in an overall decline in the IMI this month, the index remains at a very strong level and continues to represent markets in every state,"" remarked NAHB chief economist David Crowe.