Regulator says companies still suffer from severe operational and financial weaknesses. Recruiting executives also tough.

Mortgage rates remain near historic lows, but rates ticked up a bit this week, a move Freddie Mac links to the improving outlook for the U.S. economy.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.84 percent this week, up from last week's 4.78 percent, which tied the lowest rate for a 30 year mortgage since Freddie Mac started keeping track in 1971. A year ago, 30 year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.05 percent.

Mortgage brokers and small lenders say they've been left out of a big part of the Obama administration's plan to help borrowers refinance their home loans and take advantage of near record-low interest rates.

The news is inundated with talk of Federal bailouts of the housing market and reworking mortgages, but one of the real impediments is the second mortgage. You remember them, they are the 20 of the infamous 80–20 loans that were the rage a few years ago.

Market watchers expect the Federal Reserve's decision to buy U.S. Treasuries will drive down mortgage rates in coming weeks, but they were already falling this week.

Freddie Mac's weekly rate report says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to an average of 4.98 percent this week, down from 5.03 percent last week and just shy of the all-time low 4.96 percent in mid-January.