Real Estate News – April 8, 2011

It’s an “all you can read” buffet of real estate news today:

The Effect of New FASB Rules on Commercial Real Estate Leasing (via Benzinga.com): http://bit.ly/i8xpJZ

ACLU pushes to slow mass foreclosure docket in Florida (via HousingWire.com): http://bit.ly/fYSDBb

Commercial Real Estate Surges, Needs Corporate Hiring To Continue (via Forbes.com): http://bit.ly/eoyFpe

SBA expands commercial real estate mortgage refinancing program (via charlestonbusiness.com): http://bit.ly/eYb8CO

A new report reveals findings of common tactics used in loan modification scams that set out to dupe home owners (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/i497Mc

The Obama administration has threatened a government shutdown if Congress can’t soon agree on a budget, but the shutdown could hurt housing right when the peak home buying season is getting underway, experts say (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/gS4fL6

Paradise Spa HOA raided by state and federal authorities (via ktnv.com): http://bit.ly/gPRnsX

Vacancies at U.S. regional malls rose to the highest in at least a decade in the first quarter, a sign that landlords are struggling to keep tenants after the recession even as retail sales increased (via businessweek.com): http://buswk.co/eBIFPj

A California homeowner is suing the mortgage servicing unit of Morgan Stanley, claiming the company had no intention of permanently modifying her home loan payments to an affordable amount despite having her make a slew of trial payments under a federal program designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure (via businessweek.com): http://buswk.co/e5JCIS

Proposed federal rules would drive many out of market for home loans (via washingtonpost.com): http://wapo.st/fpEuQ9

In a move that some will say is an example of the flexibility of the Groupon model, and that others will point to as a shark-jumping moment, the online deals site has partnered with a Chicago-area real estate firm for its first ever venture into the home-buying market (via consumerist.com): http://bit.ly/hxHPGF

A real estate agent’s discovery of marijuana growing in a bank-owned home he was listing in Elk Grove, Calif., eventually led police to three other pot houses and five arrests (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/essyQ5