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The CFPB has released its monthly complaint snapshot; this report highlights consumer complaints about debt collection. It shows that the most common complaint about debt collection concerns attempts to collect on a debt that the consumer says is not owed. The report also highlights trends seen in complaints coming from Arizona.

The November Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Index has been released and indicates that nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages increased from October to November, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts:

• The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 3.66 percent for loans closed in late November, up 4 basis points from 3.62 percent in October.
• The average interest rate on all mortgage loans was 3.64 percent, up 4 basis points from 3.60 in October.
• The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages of $417,000 or less was 3.80 percent, up 4 basis points from 3.76 in October.
• The effective interest rate on all mortgage loans was 3.77 percent in November, up 5 basis points from 3.72 in October. The effective interest rate accounts for the addition of initial fees and charges over the life of the mortgage.
• The average loan amount for all loans was $314,700 in November, up $2,000 from $312,700 in October.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has published a notice in this morning's Federal Register seeking nominations from the public for membership on the FinCEN Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group. New members will be selected for three-year membership terms. Nominations will be accepted through January 27, 2017.

HUD and the Census Bureau have released their new residential sales report for November 2016. Sales of new single-family houses in in November 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, which is 5.2 percent above the revised October rate of 563,000 and 16.5 percent above the November 2015 estimate of 508,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in November 2016 was $305,400; the average sales price was $359,900. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of November was 250,000, which represents a supply of 5.1 months at the current sales rate.

HUD has announced the awarding of an additional $1.8 billion through its Community Development Bloc Grant -- Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program to help Louisiana, West Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida to recover after severe flooding events that occurred earlier in 2016.

The NMLS has posted a notice that it will extend its operating hours on Saturday, December 31, 2016, from 8:00 p.m. ET to Sunday, January 1, 2017, at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) ET. The system will be unavailable on January 1, 2017, and will re-open at 7:00 a.m. ET on Monday, January 2nd. December 31 is the last day of the annual two-month-long renewal window for mortgage loan originator registrations.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated eighteen individuals and five entities in response to the continued acts of violence committed by the Government of Syria, led by Bashar al-Assad, against its own citizens. The designated individuals and entities have provided support or services to the Government of Syria, acted as senior officials of the Government of Syria, supported designated individuals and entities, or aided Syria’s weapons of mass destruction program. As a result of today’s action, any property or interests in property of the designated persons in the possession or control of U.S. persons or within the United States must be blocked. Additionally, transactions by U.S. persons involving the designated persons are generally prohibited. For additional information, see our OFAC Update for December 23.

The FHFA has released the October 2016 House Price Index (HPI), which indicates U.S. house prices were up 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from September 2016. The FHFA monthly HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. From October 2015 to October 2016, house prices were up 6.2 percent. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from September 2016 to October 2016 ranged from -0.6 percent in the East South Central division to +1.2 percent in the Mountain division. The 12-month changes were all positive, ranging from +3.6 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +8.3 percent in the Mountain division.

The FHFA also released its third quarter 2016 Foreclosure Prevention Report. The serious delinquency rate for mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) has reached the lowest level since June of 2008. The Enterprises' serious delinquency rate fell to 1.16 percent at the end of the third quarter of this year. Overall, the Enterprises completed 46,390 foreclosure prevention actions in the third quarter. The report also includes data on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac home retention actions, delinquency data and real estate owned (REO) inventory. FHFA publishes the report data in an online, interactive Borrower Assistance Map.

OFAC has amended the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations to expand the scope of medical devices and agricultural commodities generally authorized for export or re-export to Iran pursuant to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, as amended. This amendment also includes new or expanded authorizations related to training, replacement parts, software and services for the operation, maintenance, and repair of medical devices, and items that are broken or connected to product recalls or other safety concerns. Additionally, this amendment revises the definition of the terms “goods of Iranian origin” and “Iranian-origin goods.” For more on this story, read our OFAC Update.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced approval of an agreement between the owners and managers of Maycliff Mobile Home Park in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a family to resolve allegations that the landlords refused to allow an elderly woman’s son and his pregnant wife to live at the property after their child was born. Two additional agreements were also announced between the owners and managers of Plainview Mobile Home Park in Casper, Wyoming, and two families who complained they were unlawfully denied the reasonable modifications they needed.