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The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) approved 11 bipartisan bills today, aimed at providing community banks and credit unions some regulatory relief. According to HFSC Chairman Jeb Hensarling, since the introduction of the Dodd-Frank Act, banks have been struggling to survive due to stricter regulation.

Employees at the office work with U.S. residents who were behind on their home loan payments. In an emailed statement, Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday that as the economy has improved over the last two years, fewer customers have become delinquent on their payments, and fewer customers have needed assistance to stay in their homes. The company says it will continue to offer assistance to borrowers facing financial hardship.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Deputy Director Steven Antonakes hinted at possibly extending the August 1 implementation deadline for new mortgage disclosure if vendors weren’t ready, in a speech he gave today, sending industry talks into frenzy. But according to Sam Gilford, spokesman for the CFPB, the deadline will not be extended.

In late January, Judge Magaret Sweeney denied the government's attempt to stay court proceedings in the case, ruling that Fairholme could continue to pursue its lawsuit against the government, which was originally filed in 2013. The suit claims that the sweeping of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac profits into Treasury, a practice authorized by Congress in August 2012, equates to taking private property for public use without "just compensation," which is forbidden by the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

A ClosingCorp survey of more than 1,000 adults found that about 2 in 3 adults age 18-34, who plan to buy a home know nothing about closing costs. The survey also found that across all age groups, more than one-third of potential homeowners are “not very” or “not at all” aware of closing costs.

In January, U.S. house prices rose a mere 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month. The previously reported 0.8 percent change in December was revised downward to a 0.7 percent change. The FHFA HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

According to data released by the U.S. Census and HUD the February sales are up nearly 25 percent compared to sales from that month last year. Sales for February 2014 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 539,000. This is 7.8 percent above the January rate of 500,000.

The senator’s proposed budget amendment will make the CFPB subject to congressional appropriations process because currently the CFPB operates under the Fed, not Congress. The amendment stressed for more congressional oversight given the CFPB receives roughly $600 million of the Fed’s annual operating expenses.

Self-directed real estate allows individuals to sell and buy homes without using a real estate agent. According to Owners.com, self-directed real estate appeals to consumers for several reasons including transparency, accessibility, and saving money. VP of Owners.com, Erik Ekardt said self-directed sales puts power back into the hands of consumers.

The temporary factors that slowed economic growth include a drawdown in inventory, unusually high snowfall in some parts of the country, and the West Coast port slowdown. Fannie Mae expects the reducing of those factors in the second quarter combined with upbeat labor market conditions and positive consumer and business fundamentals to push GDP growth to 2.8 percent in 2015, ahead of 2014's pace of 2.4 percent.