A bipartisan group of lawmakers are urging federal regulators to overhaul a mortgage proposal that includes a call for a 20 percent down payment for the “safest mortgages,” saying that it could threaten a full economic recovery “from years to come” (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/j83joT

A late attempt by the finance industry to waive Oregon mortgage recording laws in most foreclosures is dead (via LoanSafe.org): http://bit.ly/jOGp20

Pastors call on banks to help keep people out of foreclosure (via freep.com): http://bit.ly/li6N83

Delinquent home owners are finding a wild-card in saving their home from foreclosure. In court, more home owners are successfully arguing that their mortgage companies can’t prove they own the loan and don’t have the right to foreclose on them (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/iByXbk

Shoddy Bank Practices Continue Even After Mortgage Mods (via propubica.org): http://bit.ly/k5GTPy

Short sales getting faster (via MercuryNews.com): http://bit.ly/l7jYUo

Housing Market: We’re Looking at a Double-dip (via WallStreetPit.com): http://bit.ly/jmlcab

With the near future of real estate still in question, investors have been hungry for a fast way to play the market or to hedge against their volatile portfolios. Futures contracts have been an extremely popular method of balancing a portfolio in other markets, and real estate is, with a little knowledge, now in the same boat (via sfgate.com): http://bit.ly/lyNXIK