Bank of America Corp. may settle a state and federal probe of foreclosure practices in a deal that lets New York proceed with an inquiry into securitizations, according to two people with direct knowledge of the talks (via Bloomberg.com): http://bloom.bg/nMPzT2

A New Jersey judge has ruled that four major banks can resume uncontested foreclosure actions in the state under court monitoring (via BusinessWeek.com): http://buswk.co/pfwwvC

Giant U.S. mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own nearly 200,000 single family homes in their bloated inventories of foreclosed properties, according to a review of the government sponsored enterprises (via HousingPredictor.com): http://bit.ly/oW9p4T

Wells Fargo & Co. has reached an agreement with Connecticut over allegedly deceptive marketing of mortgage products by Wachovia Corp. and Golden West Financial Corp., two troubled lenders that Wells Fargo acquired in 2008 (via online.WSJ.com): http://on.wsj.com/n6J8JA

A U.S. program to help as many as 5 million homeowners refinance their mortgages is being hindered by reluctant lenders, suffering a similar fate to the government’s main foreclosure-prevention effort (via Bloomberg.com): http://bloom.bg/psP2vS

Exxon Mobil Corp. is fighting with the U.S. government to keep control of one of its biggest oil discoveries ever, in a showdown where billions of dollars hang in the balance for both sides (via online.WSJ.com): http://on.wsj.com/pafZUI