Government

A putative class action lawsuit against Freddie Mac over allegations of securities fraud was dismissed by a federal judge, the GSE announced Thursday in a release.

A Virginia developer was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in federal prison for a bank fraud scheme, which contributed to the collapse of Bank of the Commonwealth, and for his role in a historic-tax-credit scheme, the Office of the Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP) announced in a release Wednesday.

Real gross domestic product - the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States - increased at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the second quarter of 2012, down sharply from the 1.7 percent growth rate reported one month ago, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.0 percent.

In the second quarter of 2012, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed more than 129,007 foreclosure prevention actions, raising the year-to-date total to 275,106, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which is the GSEs conservator and regulator, reported Wednesday. The second quarter total is a decrease from the first quarter of 2012, when the GSEs completed 146,099 foreclosure prevention actions. Since 2008, the start of the conservatorship, the GSEs have completed nearly 2.4 million foreclosure prevention actions, 1.2 million of which included permanent loan mods.

After conducting an online survey including 2,570 U.S. adults, MortgageMarvel.com reported 25 percent of Americans said the upcoming presidential election would influence the timing of their decision to buy a home. More specifically, 13 percent said that if they were considering buying a home, they would delay their hold off until after the election because of the uncertainty it creates. Twelve percent said they would take the election into consideration, and it might cause them to postpone on buying a home.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged three former executives of TierOne Bank in Nebraska for their roles in a scheme that involved understating millions of dollars in losses, the agency announced Tuesday in a release.

California attorney general Kamala Harris announced Tuesday that the final parts of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights were signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. The governor signed three bills: SB 1474, AB 1950, and AB 2610. The governor previously signed into law three other components of the Homeowner Bill of Rights. All aspects of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights will take effect at the start of 2013.

The National Fair Housing Alliance and five member agencies filed a federal discrimination complaint against Bank of America on Tuesday, alleging widespread neglect in predominantly black and Hispanic communities across the country. The watchdog agency and members unveiled a HUD-funded report to support the claims that Bank of America violates the Fair Housing Act by neglecting REO properties in these communities.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) filed suit Tuesday against Barclay's Capital, Inc. The suit, which was filed in Federal District Court in Kansas, alleges that Barclay's misrepresented mortgage-backed securities it sold to U.S. Central Federal Credit Union (US Central) and Western Corporate Federal Credit Union (WesCorp).

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Tuesday that claim forms will be sent out to borrowers who may be eligible for settlement funds due to losing their home to foreclosure. The funds are made available through the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, which set aside $1.5 billion in payments for 2 million qualifying borrowers.