AP - The U.S. government regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must do a better job limiting legal expenses paid by the two mortgage giants to their former executives facing lawsuits, a new watchdog report says.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular choice among home buyers, has remained at an all-time low of 3.87 percent for the past three weeks, Freddie Mac reports.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Helen Kanovsky, General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"), and David A. Montoya, the Inspector General of HUD, announced today that the United States has filed, and simultaneously settled, a civil fraud lawsuit against CITIMORTGAGE, INC. ("CITIMORTGAGE"), a subsidiary of CITIBANK, N.A. The Government's Complaint seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 ("FIRREA") for over six years of misconduct in connection with CITIMORTGAGE's participation in the Federal Housing Administration ("FHA") Direct Endorsement Lender Program.

College graduates with high student loan debt are having a hard time qualifying for a mortgage, thus delaying the purchase of their first home, a Federal Reserve study shows.