Another major bank took a hit as the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) filed a lawsuit against Credit Suisse Securities over the sale of faulty mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Credit Suisse isn't the only one that's been targeted by NCUA-the administration has also gone after JPMorgan Securities, Goldman Sachs, Wachovia, and Barclay's, to name a few.

The number of markets listed on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First American Title's Improving Markets Index (IMI) broke the triple-digit mark in October, NAHB reported. The index identifies metro areas that have shown improvement from their respective troughs in housing permits, employment, and house prices for at least six straight months. A total of 103 housing markets across the country qualified for the list in October, up from 99 in September and the highest level since the list started a year ago, NAHB said.

Neither Barack Obama or Mitt Romney has seemed particularly enthusiastic about discussing housing on the national stage, but viewers of Wednesday's debates got to see a brief skirmish between the two candidates about regulation for Wall Street and the mortgage industry. While some viewers complained about debate's narrow focus, they were at least given reassurance that housing hasn't been eclipsed completely by other issues.

Performance on vintage prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) continues to degrade, Fitch Ratings revealed in a report. The ratings agency announced a downgrade on 6 percent of its rated prime RMBS classes, many of which fall into the pre-2005 category. Fitch attributed the downgrade to increased delinquency rates in certain pools.

Donald McGuire will be pulling double duty at NewOak as COO and head of investment banking, the company announced. McGuire comes to NewOak with more than 27 years of experience in finance and operations, having worked in the major investment banking, pharmaceutical, and technological industries.

In her first monthly report as California Monitor, Katherine Porter described the servicers' efforts to reform their practices before the October 2 deadline outlined in the national mortgage settlement. Porter's first evaluation examined the practice of dual tracking. The companies in the settlement were given 180 days to reform their dual tracking procedures, in addition to more than 300 additional servicing standard requirements.

Mortgage applications saw increased activity in the last week of September, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported. Mortgage application volume increased 16.6 percent in the week ending September 28, according to MBA's Mortgage Composite Index. Meanwhile, the Refinance Index increased 20 percent from a week before to its highest recorded level since April 2009.

Interthinx announced Monday it is teaming up with Middleberg Riddle & Gianna's MRG Document Technologies group to provide financial institutions with assistance in addressing legal and regulatory requirements.

Three men were arrested Monday for bank fraud connected to the fall of New York's Park Avenue Bank in 2010, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Trouble Asset Relief Program announced. Wilbur Anthony Huff, Matthew L. Morris, and Allen Reichman were presented in federal court for their alleged roles in the collapse of the Manhattan bank.

New York attorney general and co-chair of RMBS Working Group Eric T. Schneiderman announced a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Bank, JPMorgan Securities, LLC (formerly known as Bear Stearns & Co.), and EMC Mortgage LLC (formerly EMC Mortgage Corporation). Schneiderman's complaint alleges that Bear Stearns led investors to believe that the quality of loans in its mortgage-backed securities had been carefully evaluated and would be monitored. The complaint further alleges that as a result of Bear Stearns' and the other defendants' negligence, investors suffered cumulative losses of approximately $22.5 billion.