Housing production in California was up in November for the fourth consecutive month. But builders in the Golden State are still on track to start the third lowest number of units on record in 2011.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average weekly rate for a 30-year mortgage has inched down to another record low.

Reed Smith has hired Tamara Box as head of structured finance. The new hire joins the firm's London office as a partner in the financial industry group (FIG). Box was previously the head of international structured finance at Berwin Leighton Paisner.

The Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported an acceleration in foreclosure actions during the third quarter as servicers lifted voluntary moratoriums implemented in late 2010 as the robosigning scandal escalated.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) believes California Attorney General Kamala Harris is pestering Fannie Mae with stupid questions. Whether that opinion is enough justification for the government-sponsored enterprise to ignore her queries is to be determined.

A federal judge issued a ruling this morning suggesting that the statute of limitations may have expired on National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) claims that Wall Street banks sold MBS they knew were faulty to corporate credit unions, potentially rendering NCUA suits filed earlier this year moot.

E*Trade Financial Corp. and its insurers have agreed to pay $79 million to settle a class-action suit brought by investors over losses in its mortgage and home-equity loan portfolios.

World Omni Financial has filed an S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue ABS under its World Omni Auto Lease Trust.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) will have California Congressman Ed Royce and Arizona Congressman David Schweikert as keynote speakers at its ASF 2012.

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it has reached a $335 million settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp., now owned by Bank of America, in the largest fair lending action in history.

Residential loan applications fell by almost 3% for the week ending Dec. 16, despite continued historically low rates, according to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association(MBA).