Fannie Mae's CFO is planning to retire from the company by the end of the June, the GSE said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the filing, Susan McFarland, who also serves as EVP at Fannie Mae, ""notified the company that she will retire ... after a transition period that will begin on the effective date of the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer by our Board of Directors and end no later than June 30, 2013.""

Ally Financial reported net income of $1.4 billion for 2012's last quarter as the bank continues to shift away from the mortgage business. Last quarter's $1.4 billion income was a marked turnaround from the net loss of $206 million reported at the end of 2012. For the entire year, Ally recorded a net income of $1.2 billion compared to a net loss of $157 million in 2011. According to the bank's quarterly earnings report, performance was largely ""affected by strong on sale revenue in Mortgage Operations.""

A judge in the Southern District of New York ruled Tuesday that Flagstar Bancorp will have to pay Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. more than $90 million for defective mortgages packaged in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that Flagstar must pay $90.1 million to Assured for misrepresenting loans in insured securities. Flagstar must also pay interest, attorneys' fees, and other costs to be determined.

Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, announced a new program offering 25-day loan closings to borrowers seeking to purchase or refinance properties. According to Ellie Mae's latest Origination Insight Report, the average time to close a purchase loan was 46 days in 2012, while the average time to close a refinance loan was 49 days.

The Justice Department (DoJ) and Standard Poor's are at odds with others over civil fraud charges stemming from an alleged scheme to defraud investors in the lead-up to 2008's financial meltdown. The DoJ filed a civil lawsuit against S&P and its parent company, McGraw-Hill, Monday, alleging that S&P ""knowingly [issued] inflated credit ratings"" for collateralized debt obligations in the years before the crash, misrepresenting their creditworthiness and understating their risks.

Consumer confidence picked up somewhat in January, but the recent payroll tax hike put a ceiling on any major gains, according to the latest survey of consumers from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan (UMich). The Index of Consumer Sentiment climbed slightly to 73.8 in January from December's 72.9. The index read 75.0 in January 2012. According to a release accompanying the survey, January's potential gains were dulled by the payroll tax increase, which has had a significant impact on lower income households.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Steve Antonakes will serve as acting deputy director while the agency continues searching for a replacement for departing deputy director Raj Date. CFPB announced in November that Date would depart at the end of January 2013.

Fixed mortgage rates took a major leap up this week amid news of a growing economy led in part by the recovering housing market. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate averaged 3.53 percent (0.7 point) for the final week of January, up from 3.42 percent last week. The last time the 30-year fixed rate averaged above 3.5 percent was in September 2012. The 15-year fixed average also increased significantly, rising 10 basis points to 2.81 percent (0.7 point).

Keeping her promise to Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee), Federal Housing Administration commissioner Carol Galante announced a series of changes that will allow the agency to better manage risk and strengthen its anemic Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund. The first major change will be the consolidation of FHA's Standard Fixed-Rate Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) and Saver Fixed Rate HECM pricing options. In addition, the agency plans to increase its annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP) by 0.10 percent for most new mortgages and by 0.05 percent for jumbo loans.

Conditions in the housing sector may have finally improved enough to bring life back to the securitization market, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said in remarks at the American Securitization Forum. Curry noted that the credit market has shifted dramatically in its efforts to prevent the practices that paved the way for the financial meltdown but has gone too far--an expected reaction, he said. However, as the market stabilizes, it will become important for lenders to adjust appropriately and find a balance.