Government

According to the latest figures released Friday from the U.S. Census new home sales, starts, and spending were down in June and for the first half of the year. Spending on private construction in June came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $685.5 billion, 1 percent below the revised May estimate of $692 billion. Residential construction alone was at $356 billion, which is 0.3 percent below the revised May estimate.

U.S. payrolls grew less than expected in July, a potential sign that the labor market recovery might be cooling following an early summer hiring spike.

The House Financial Services Committee passed a reform bill this week to require the Federal Reserve to adopt a "more predictable rules-based" monetary policy. The Fed has already warned of serious trouble if the nation's central bank were held to formal policy regarding its ability to set interest rates.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray appeared before the House Financial Services Committee this week to address allegations of discrimination and a culture of retaliation at the agency. While Cordray would not discuss any individual discrimination complaints, he said, "We take each of these allegations very seriously and we will continue to work diligently to resolve any issues through all appropriate channels."

A federal judge has ordered Bank of America to pay nearly $1.3 billion in penalties over a fraud case decided last year. The case revolved around a lending procedure referred to as the "High-Speed Swim Lane, "which prosecutors say was designed to churn out loans as quickly as possible with little regard for risk.

According to an estimate from the Census Bureau, the U.S. homeownership rate was 64.7 percent in the second quarter, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the first quarter's previous low and 0.3 percentage points from the same time last year. It was the lowest rate since 1995. Homeownership continued to slide among the millennial age group, who find themselves burdened by high debt, tight credit conditions, and limited job prospects.

The House Financial Services Committee is set to hear testimony from CFPB Director Richard Cordray on Wednesday about allegations of discrimination at the bureau. Wednesday's hearing will be the third hearing on the matter following earlier allegations from whistleblowers that CFPB fostered "a culture of racial and gender discrimination and retaliation against its employees."

According to the American Enterprise Institute's (AEI) latest National Mortgage Risk Index, the share of home purchase loans at risk of going sour in the event of an economic downturn fell nearly half a percentage point last month to 11.44 percent. According to the group, the risk value of loans securitized in Fannie and Freddie's portfolios fell slightly to 5.8 percent, while the risk index for FHA slipped to 23.6.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a rule that would update the reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The proposed rule purports to standardize the reporting threshold for most lenders, relax the reporting requirements for some smaller lenders, and improve the electronic reporting process.

The fallout of the financial crisis caught up to another bank over the weekend, resulting in a shutdown by federal regulators. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced on Friday the closure of Chicago-based GreenChoice Bank. The recently shuttered bank is the second to fall in Illinois in the past two months and the 14th FDIC-insured institution to close so far this year.