The firm credited solid investment in institutional securities and equity sales as major factors in its Q1 performance. Net revenues from institutional securities (excluding debt value adjustment) were $5.3 billion. Equity sales and trading net revenues were $2.3 billion, up from $1.7 billion a year ago.

The Detroit-based lender claims the government has enjoyed “extraordinary profitability for FHA's insurance program” through its efforts, saying the company’s participation in FHA's program will proved the government more than $5.7 billion in net profits “from the insurance premiums collected above and beyond claims made from over $40 billion in FHA home loan volume closed by Quicken Loans during the 2007 to 2013 timeframe.”

Housing counselors‒‒which can be the lenders themselves‒‒can provide advice on buying a home, renting, defaults, foreclosures, and credit issues at little or no cost to consumers. The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 included a requirement that mortgage lenders provide applicants with a list of local housing counselors, which consumers are to receive shortly after they apply for a mortgage.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative is a set of strategies that aim to help delinquent borrowers avoid foreclosure and create a more efficient disposition path for foreclosed properties that will first be introduced in Cook County, Illinois. The housing market in the county, which contains Chicago, took a precipitous dive at the end of 2008 that took four years to reverse, according to data from DePaul University.

Michael Corbat, CEO of Citigroup, said the announced sale of OneMain, the largest business remaining in Citi Holdings and which the bank sold to Springleaf Holdings for $4.25 billion in March, helped make for a profitable quarter. "We had a strong quarter overall, particularly in executing against our top strategic priorities,” Corbat said, adding that the bank grew loans and deposits in its core businesses and tightly managed its expenses.

Announcement of the loss hardly comes as a surprise. The firm announced in early February that it was anticipating a loss in its then-coming earnings report. That announcement was followed by a spate of sales of servicing rights to several firms.

The authors found that about 31 percent of first-time buyers took such advice, regardless of income, while more than half of those who earn less than $75,000 a year sought referral advice. About 7 percent above that income line sought advice.

While some policymakers argued that raising interest rates at the end of the fiscal year would help normalize the economy as inflation creeps back to 2 percent, others argued that declines in energy prices and the growing strength of the dollar would curtail inflation and that a later rate hike would make more sense.

Perhaps the most serious complaint comes from surviving, non-borrowing spouses. When the borrower spouse dies, surviving spouses suddenly face foreclosure, despite the fact that "some consumers report that their loan originator falsely assured them they would be able to add the other spouse to the loan at a later date," the report states. Similarly, others complained that the loans are often difficult to repay and that lenders often throw obstacles in the way when consumers take steps to avoid foreclosure.

The NAR’s latest look at existing-home sales shows that while sales nationally were 3.2 percent higher this January than last, single-family transactions were down almost 5 percent to 4.82 million. This is the lowest since last April’s 4.75 million.