With total U.S. debt soaring past $14 billion in May and negotiations over a controversial ceiling raise splintering at the highest levels, analysts worry that the Federal Housing Administration may shut down if the federal government defaults on August 2 -- a crisis scenario that would wreak havoc in housing markets, tightening the credit supply and spoiling a recovery. Analysts suggest that a default by the government would unfairly and adversely impact minority homeowners.

The U.S. Census Bureau and HUD released data indicating southerly drifts for sales of new homes, revealing a 2.1 percent drop beneath the April rate of 326,000, 13.5 percent above the 281,000 estimates from May 2010.

Concerned by the risk that new regulatory infrastructure may duplicate existing financial rules, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission on Monday outlining recommendations to minimize overlap between the former and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Addressing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, the letter called for a Memorandum of Understanding in order to clarify and empower the FTC and CFPB.

Under a new agreement between American Bankers Association subsidiary Business Solutions and Mortgagebot, banks signed up with the former will have the ability to access solutions for their online mortgage applications.

On Tuesday the nonprofit data subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), MISMO, announced the appointment of senior executive Gabe Minton to a seat on its six-member board of directors. Gabe will provide excellent leadership for MISMO as it drives the development of technology standards for both the residential and commercial real estate finance industries, Michael D.

On Tuesday the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported a slight 0.8 percent rise in home prices from March to April, representing a positive note in a brittle housing market.

On Monday, leading mortgage servicer Stonegate Mortgage Corp. announced that it hired Matthew Locke to head up its retail lending services division as SVP. Stonegate has grown year over year the past three years, for one reason: its ability to identify opportunities and hire the right people to deliver, Dan Bettenburg, Stonegate├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós president and CEO, said in a statement.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released research on this week indicating a greater-than-expected drive to high conforming jumbo mortgages (HCJMs) by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, raising questions about the long-term impact their buying spree may have on private markets. According to the research, the government-sponsored enterprises walked away this year with approximately 55 percent of HCJMs in 10 of the nation's high-cost counties, a number totaling approximately 50,000 mortgages worth over $30 billion.

Adding to an innovative new remediation platform it launched in May, the National Association of Field Mortgage Services announced key additions that propose to enhance the speed and ease in field services.

Despite gridlock in the confirmation process for its embattled nominee, news reports put the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on schedule to launch formal operations and ready to begin policing Wall Street in July, with or without the director that Senate Republicans vow to obstruct. With its management team and staff already in place, a broad array of powers sanctioned by the Dodd-Frank Act will empower the consumer protection bureau to issue new rules for over 100 banks with more than $10 billion in assets.