Deals Up, Distress Down As Commercial Real Estate Optimism Builds  (via REIT.com): http://bit.ly/iC2ZlO

The Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) rule released by the Federal Trade Commission last November to protect home owners from foreclosure prevention scams has several unintended consequences for real estate professionals who are involved in short-sale transactions (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/m0xbxa

Foreclosures Fall To 40 Month Low -- Due To Paperwork Delays, Not Recovery (via HuffingtonPost.com): http://huff.to/mw0Qh3

Four major U.S. cities that pay for the upkeep of foreclosed properties are trying to recoup the costs of services including lawn mowing, repairs and security by suing banks they claim contributed to their “urban blight” (via Bloomberg.com): http://bloom.bg/jytoMW

When it comes to reforming the tax code and reducing the deficit, legislators and policy makers are heading “back to the future,” said Steve Bailey, tax aide to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who has served as chair of the Senate’s Budget Committee since 2006. But they won’t need a DeLorean or a flux capacitor to return to policies that extend as far back as the Reagan years (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/liKezb

Fed up with late dues and mounting maintenance bills, some homeowner associations are motivated by spite, over sound business sense, to foreclose on delinquent owners (via Sun-Sentinel.com): http://sunsent.nl/mEmWpK