Goldman Sachs scooped up $6.2 billion in risky mortgage bonds from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the central bank said Wednesday. The Maiden Lane II assets stem from the taxpayer-funded bailout of American International Group during the financial crisis. An original senior loan in the amount of $19.5 billion needed repayment, and Credit Suisse offered an initial inquiry to pick up the tab for Maiden II assets last fall. The federal government held out on an offer until it felt the sale would mete out a higher rate of return for the public.

A House subcommittee cleared a bill Tuesday that would shore up the Federal Housing Administration's ailing Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund by setting annual premiums for mortgage insurers and reworking the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós financial controls. Lawmakers seated on the Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity subcommittee approved by voice vote the FHA Emergency Fiscal Solvency Act, fronting it for a full vote by the House. The FHA continues to alarm policymakers for failing to keep adequate capital on hand.

More Americans expect that home prices will recover over the course of 2012, just as they believe that mortgage rates will remain at all-time lows and more think the economy will enter an upswing. Mortgage giant Fannie Mae said in a January National Housing Survey that 28 percent of Americans believe that home prices will rise over the next year by 1 percent, up from 2 percent last month. Of the survey respondents, 8 percent said that interest rates for mortgage loans will decline in 2012, down 2 percent from December.

A financial fraud task force cleared a final rule Tuesday that requires nonbank mortgage lenders and originators to report suspicious activity related to mortgage fraud. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said that originators and lenders will need to report any suspected fraudulent activity to the organization on an annual and quarterly basis. The new rule reflects the scope of authority undertaken by the Obama administration as it pursues mortgage and financial fraud. The new rule will take effect in two months.

Homebuilder confidence in the single-family market ended the fourth quarter last year on a climb uphill as the wider economy showed improvement. The National Association of Home Builders released a market index Tuesday that recorded a four-point increase year-over-year to 18 for homebuilders in the single-family sector. The index fielded improvements across the board year-over-year, with confidence about current sales ticking up four points to 17 and anticipated sales for the next six months up two points to 26.

A federal court sentenced three family members to prison Monday for their role in $11 million in mortgage fraud, just as another court upped the sentence for a onetime company executive-turned-hit man currently serving time. These stories made our mortgage fraud blotter Monday. MReport sourced the stories from several news outlets, finding in their pages a number of illicit activities by the likes of appraisers, Realtors, mortgage brokers, investors, and company executives. First up: One couple and their son help bring in $11 million with co-conspirators.

New York-based direct commercial real estate lender, Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, has promoted John Caulfield to COO. Caulfield, previously EVP and director of operations, will now supervise Arbor├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós $5.8 billion multifamily loan servicing portfolio.

Nearly 85 percent of refinancing homeowners with first-lien loans maintained or reduced their current payments by paying in additional cash in the fourth quarter last year. Of these, according to recent analysis by mortgage giant Freddie Mac, 49 percent of borrowers slashed their principal payments by refinancing at current rates, compared with 37 percent who preserved their payments. So-called cash-out borrowers accounted for 15 percent of all refinance loans, the lowest percentage in the 26-year history of the GSE's analysis.

Thirty-nine Senate Republicans vowed Friday to challenge several recent recess appointments, including one that installed Richard Cordray as Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director, by turning to the courts. An open letter signaled that the lawmakers will also contest appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. Many of the signers released another open letter Thursday with questions for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid over his past role as a supporter of pro-forma sessions as a tactic to block recess appointments.

A still-brittle economic recovery picked up steam in January as the private sector added 243,000 jobs, driving unemployment figures to lows not seen in three years. The Labor Department said that the national unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, also signaling a fifth straight month for declines in the number of jobless Americans. Construction added 21,000 jobs from December, with gains for nonresidential construction and specialty trade contractors. Financial services lost some 5,000 jobs from last month by comparison.