Daily Dose

The central figure at one of enduring images of the financial crisis is potentially facing the latest in a series of attempts to hold him responsible for some of the events leading to the economic downturn. U.S. attorneys in Los Angeles are preparing a civil lawsuit against former Countrywide Financial CEO and co-founder Angelo Mozilo

A year ago, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.58 percent—its peak in 2013. The average interest rate for a 15-year FRM this week was 3.23 percent (0.6 point), down from 3.24 percent a week ago. Adjustable rates were mixed for the week. According to Freddie Mac, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.95 percent (0.5 point) in the latest survey, down slightly from last week, while the 1-year ARM edged up to 2.38 percent (0.5 point).

Obama administration officials praised Thursday's $16.65 billion settlement between Bank of America and the U.S. Department of Justice, $7 billion of which will go to provide consumer relief to assist those distressed by the collapse of the housing market in 2008.

Approximately 421,000 homeowners used various non-foreclosure solutions from mortgage servicers in the second quarter of 2014, according to recently released Q2 2014 data from HOPE NOW, a private sector alliance between various players in the mortgage industry. The number of non-foreclosure solutions in Q2 was almost quadruple the number of foreclosure sales for the same period (115,000), according to HOPE NOW.

The total number of mortgage refinances in the U.S. experienced a slight increase in June as mortgage rates dropped from May, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) Second Quarter 2014 Refinance Report. HARP-refinanced homes made up only about 15.7 percent of total refinances in Q2.

For the first time since the start of the housing recovery in 2012, Realtor.com says the end of the annual peak buying season passed this year without any outside economic influences creeping in.

Residential construction is on its way up, with building permit authorizations for privately owned housing units increasing by 8.1 percent from June to July and rising 7.7 percent from July 2013, according to data released on August 19 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Almost half of single homebuyers aged 25 to 50 reported that it was "very important" to them to own a home, according to Century 21's Singles Homebuyer Survey released on August 20.

The national mortgage delinquency rate declined for the 10th consecutive quarter in Q2 2014 and is at its lowest level since 2008, according to TransUnion's quarterly mortgage report. The rate of U.S. mortgage delinquencies, defined as those in which the borrower is more than 60 days delinquent on the mortgage account, fell from 3.61 percent in Q1 to 3.46 percent for Q2 (a change of 4.2 percent).

Ohio ranks fifth in the nation in foreclosure activity in July even after a 24 percent decrease from a year ago, according to recently released data from RealtyTrac.