Former DocX president Lorraine Brown is looking at a two- to three-year stretch in prison after accepting a plea deal over robo-signing practices, according to announcement from Missouri attorney general Chris Koster.

Consumer confidence hit the wall in November as Americans sweat the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff, according to monthly survey results released by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers showed confidence over the economy increased just 0.1 percent from October to November, hitting 82.7 on the Index of Consumer Sentiment. Preliminary data released earlier in November put the index at 84.9, and economists polled by Reuters expected a median index of 84.5.

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, based out of North Texas, has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in the area, the company announced. Wingspan was one of the top two recipients of the Dallas 100 Awards, marking it as the second fastest-growing privately held company in the Dallas Metroplex.

JPMorgan Securities LLC and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) paid a combined $416.9 million to settle charges of misleading investors in the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced. According to the SEC's complaint against JPMorgan, the bank misstated information about the delinquency status of mortgages that provided collateral for an RMBS offering it underwrote. JPMorgan received fees of more than $2.7 million, and investors sustained losses of at least $37 million on undisclosed delinquent loans, the SEC says.

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Home Opportunity Index (HOI) revealed 74.1 percent of all homes sold in Q3 were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $65,000. That percentage was up slightly from 73.8 percent in the second quarter.

Vintage loans brought the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund to its knees in fiscal year 2012, but the agency insists it does not immediately need to draw from the Treasury. A review conducted by an independent actuary found that the capital reserve ratio of the MMI Fund fell below zero to negative 1.44 percent, representing a negative economic value of $16.3 billion.

Redfin announced that as of mid-November, it has saved customers more than $100 million in real estate fees and reached more than $8 billion in home sales. According to Redfin, customers have saved more than $25 million on fees in 2012 alone. The company also boasts a satisfaction rate of 97 percent.

RE/MAX announced the launch of its RE/MAX Commercial website, the standalone site dedicated to data-rich commercial real estate listings, investor information, and other resources. The Denver, Colorado-based real estate giant says the resource is necessary as its commercial brand keeps getting bigger.

East Tennessee's largest credit union has attracted a big fish in the legal community. ORNL Federal Credit Union appointed T. Wayne Hood, Esq. as SVP and general counsel.

The housing market is slowly but surely getting back up to speed, but don't expect it to recover to peak levels, Freddie Mac says in its latest U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook. In the November outlook, Freddie Mac takes into account recent trends, housing indicators, shifting demographic patterns to put together a picture of what makes a ""healthy"" housing market.