The Department of Housing and Urban Development is going all out to bolster FHA’s capital reserves with budgetary proposals to increase annual premiums beyond the 10-basis points hike authorized by Congress late last year. The proposed premium increases are expected to complement the $1 billion that Bank of America has agreed to pay to resolve claims against the bank and its subsidiary, Countrywide Financial Corp., for alleged underwriting and mortgage origination fraud. The BofA settlement, half of which is a penalty paid directly to the FHA, is part of a $25 billion agreement among 49 state...