AP – A new Justice Department fraud-fighting unit will bring together 55 prosecutors and federal and state investigators focusing on one of the contributing factors to the financial crisis — the collapse of residential mortgage-backed securities. Yahoo! News: Personal Finance News
AP – The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week for the first time this month, though it remained below 4 percent for the eighth straight week. Yahoo! News: Personal Finance News
AP – California officials are refusing to sign a proposed settlement between U.S. states and the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders over deceptive foreclosure practices, calling it “inadequate.” Yahoo! News: Personal Finance News
AP – The Illinois attorney general filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Standard & Poor’s of misleading investors by assigning its highest ratings to risky mortgage-backed investments during the years leading up to the crash of the housing market. Yahoo! News: Personal Finance News
Reuters – Applications for home mortgages retreated last week, giving back some of the previous week’s surge as interest rates rose, an industry group said on Wednesday. Yahoo! News: Personal Finance News
Reuters – President Barack Obama used his last State of the Union speech before the November election to paint himself as the champion of the middle class, by demanding higher taxes for millionaires and tight reins on Wall Street. Yahoo! News: Personal Finance News
