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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 21 January 2020

Created: 21 January 2020

Last Updated: 21 January 2020

IRVINE, Calif. – ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database and first property data provider of Data-as-a-Service, or DaaS, has released its Year-End 2019 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings— default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 493,066 U.S. properties in 2019, down 21 percent from 2018 and down 83 percent from a peak of nearly 2.9 million in 2010 to the lowest level since tracking began in 2005.

Those 493,066 properties with foreclosure filings in 2019 represented 0.36 percent of all U.S. housing units, down from 0.47 percent in 2018 and down from a peak of 2.23 percent in 2010.

ATTOM’s year-end foreclosure report provides a unique count of properties with a foreclosure filing during the year based on publicly recorded and published foreclosure filings collected in more than 2,200 counties nationwide, with address-level data on nearly 25 million foreclosure filings historically, also available for license or customized reporting. See full methodology below.

The report also includes new data for December 2019, when there were 53,279 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings, up 7 percent from the previous month and up 2 percent from a year ago.

“The continued decline in distressed properties is one of many signs pointing to a much-improved housing market compared to the bad old days of the Great Recession,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer for ATTOM Data Solutions. “That said, there is some reason for concern about the potential for a change in the wrong direction, given that residential foreclosure starts increased in about a third of the nation’s metro housing markets in 2019. Nationally, the number also ticked up a bit in December. While that’s not a major worry, it’s something that should be watched closely in 2020.”

Lenders repossessed 143,955 properties through foreclosure, or REO, in 2019, down 37 percent from 2018 and down 86 percent from a peak of 1,050,500 in 2010 to the lowest level as far back as data is available — 2006.

While completed foreclosures, or REOs, are on the decline, California and Florida combined have totaled nearly 1.5 million over the last 10 years. Other states leading the nation in REOs include Michigan (333,312), Texas (323,806), Illinois (312,057) and Georgia (304,964).

Metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 200,000 that saw a year-over-year increase in REOs included Honolulu, Hawaii (up 34 percent); Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (up 28 percent); Florence, South Carolina (up 18 percent); Buffalo, New York (up 16 percent); and San Luis Obispo, California (up 9 percent).

“The home-foreclosure rates continued shrinking dramatically across the United in 2019 to a level not seen in 10 years, as the strong economy leaves more people in a position to make their mortgage payments. Completed foreclosures dropped 37 percent overall, with decreases in all but one state and almost every metro housing market,” said Ohan Antebian, general manager for ATTOM’s consumer-facing business, RealtyTrac. “As wages rise, interest rates drop, the stock market keeps hitting new highs and the broader economy remains healthy, the factors that lead to foreclosure simply aren’t there. While home prices are rising, homeowners can afford them. The drop-off has been so steep that for every 10 completed foreclosures following the housing market crash a decade ago, there now is just one.”

Lenders repossessed 13,898 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in December 2019, down 1 percent from last month, but up 34 percent from December 2018.

Lenders started the foreclosure process on 335,985 U.S. properties in 2019, down 9 percent from 2018 and down 84 percent from a peak of 2,139,005 in 2009 to a new all-time low going back as far as foreclosure start data is available — 2006.

States that saw the decline in foreclosure starts from last year included Nevada (down 30 percent); New York (down 28 percent); New Jersey (down 21 percent); California (down 13 percent); and Arizona (down 11 percent).

“With foreclosure inventory down and interest in that inventory up, it’s a good time for sellers with distressed inventory to sell while the sun shines,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of market economics with Auction.com, which sold more than 50,000 foreclosure auction and bank-owned properties through its platform in 2019. “Foreclosure buyers still enjoy sizable discounts below estimated market value due to the distressed nature of foreclosure inventory, but the average sales price for foreclosure auction properties sold through the Auction.com platform rose to a new record high in 2019 even as the rate of sales to third-party buyers increased.”

Counter to the national trend, 14 states posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts in 2019, including Rhode Island (up 54 percent); Mississippi (up 39 percent); Georgia (up 24 percent); Arkansas (up 14 percent); and Louisiana (up 11 percent).

Those metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 1 million that saw a double-digit percent increase in foreclosure starts from last year included Baton Rouge, Louisiana (up 43 percent); Atlanta, Georgia (up 25 percent); Salt Lake City, Utah (up 17 percent); Orlando, Florida (up 16 percent); and Portland, Oregon (up 16 percent).

States with the highest foreclosure rates in 2019 were New Jersey (0.82 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing); Delaware (0.73 percent); Maryland (0.66 percent); Florida (0.63 percent); and Illinois (0.63 percent). New Jersey has held the top spot since 2015.

Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates were Connecticut (0.53 percent); South Carolina (0.52 percent); Ohio (0.48 percent); Nevada (0.42 percent); and New York (0.41 percent).

Among 220 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in 2019 were Atlantic City, New Jersey (1.33 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing); Trenton, New Jersey (0.91 percent); Jacksonville, Florida (0.85 percent); Rockford, Illinois (0.82 percent); and Lakeland, Florida (0.81 percent).

Metro areas with a population greater than 1 million that had the highest foreclosure rate, including Jacksonville, Florida were: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (0.75 percent); Cleveland, Ohio (0.73 percent); Chicago, Illinois (0.71 percent); and Baltimore, Maryland (0.68 percent).

U.S. properties foreclosed in the fourth quarter of 2019 had been in the foreclosure process an average of 834 days, a 1 percent decline from the previous quarter, but an increase of 3 percent from a year ago.

States with the longest average time to foreclose in Q4 2019 were Hawaii (1,712 days); Indiana (1,629 days); Arizona (1,434 days); Nevada (1,339 days); and Georgia (1,257 days).

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 19 January 2020

Created: 19 January 2020

Last Updated: 19 January 2020

Congressional Wine Caucus Co-Chair Mike Thompson (CA-05), Co-Chair Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and 106 bipartisan Members of the caucus have written to United States Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer asking him to refrain from including wine in potential retaliatory tariffs in response to the European Union’s illegal Airbus subsidies.

Signers highlighted the potential harmful effects on the American wine community, which has a year impact of $220 billion on our economy.

The bipartisan letter to Ambassador Lighthizer is below.

The letter was signed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Representatives Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Nita Lowey (NY-17), David Price (NC-04), Eleanor Homes Norton (DC-AL), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Ken Calvert (CA-42), Anna Eshoo (CA-18), Alcee Hastings (FL-20), Peter T. King (NY-02), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), Nydia Velazquez (NY-07), Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Michael Doyle (PA-18), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Bill Pascrell (NJ-09), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Steve Chabot (OH-01), John Larson (CT-01), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Greg Walden (OR-02), William Lacy Clay, Jr. (MO-01), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Adam Schiff (CA-28), Tom Cole (OK-04), Raul Grijalva (AZ-03), Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), Linda Sanchez (CA-38), Emmanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Jim Costa (CA-16), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), Doris Matsui (CA-06), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Joe Courtney (CT-02), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Ed Perlmutter (CA-07), Peter Welch (VT-AL), John Yarmuth (KY-03), Jackie Speier (CA-14), Tom McClintock (CA-04), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Bill Posey (FL-08), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), Judy Chu (CA-27), John Garamendi (CA-03), Tom Reed (NY-23), Steve Stivers (OH-15), Mark Amodei (NV-02), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Donald Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), Ami Bera (CA-07), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Tony Cardenas (CA-29), Paul Cook (CA-09), Lois Frankel (FL-29), George Holding (NC-02), Jared Huffman (CA-02), David Joyce (OH-14), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Scott Peters (CA-52), Tom Rice (SC-07), Eric Swalwell (CA-15), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Ann Wagner (MO-02), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02), Pete Aguilar (CA-31), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Ted Lieu (CA-33), Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Norma Torres (CA-35), Lee Zeldin (NY-01), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Lou Correa (CA-46), Charlie Crist (FL-13), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Josh Gottheimer (NY-05), Clay Higgins (LA-03), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Thomas Suozzi (NY-03), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Ralph Norman (SC-05), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), TJ Cox (CA-21), Joe Cunningham (SC-01), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Andy Kim (NJ-03), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Chris Pappas (NH-01), Max Rose (NY-11), Donna Shalala (FL-27), David Trone (MD-06), Jennifer Wexton (VA-10), and Greg Murphy (NC-03).



January 14, 2020


Robert E. Lighthizer
United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20508

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer:

As members of the Congressional Wine Caucus, we write to express our strong concern about U.S. retaliatory tariffs on European wine. These retaliatory tariffs cause economic harm to the thousands of U.S. wineries, exporters, importers, retailers, and restaurants who depend on a vibrant, healthy wine market for their livelihood. Any expansion of these tariffs would further exacerbate the harm already caused.

As you know, our local wine communities are a driving force in the national economy with a total economic impact of $220 billion annually. The European Union (EU) and the U.S. are the largest wine producing regions in the world and they serve as each other’s largest export markets. In fact, the combined wine trade between the U.S. and EU totaled $4.7 billion in 2018.

The U.S. is already targeting certain EU wines with a 25% tariff and any expansion of these tariffs will most certainly lead to U.S. wine exports being targeted by the EU, which has already included U.S. wines on a proposed retaliation list in the World Trade Organization aerospace dispute. We understand that you must find appropriate means to address the WTO decision and France’s digital services tax issue, but we ask that you consider the effects it could have on American businesses. Further escalation of these disputes will lead to even greater disruptions in the transatlantic wine trade and jeopardize thousands of small and medium sized businesses and the tens of thousands of U.S. jobs they support across the country.

Additionally, these new tariffs would come at a time when U.S. wineries are already facing significant retaliatory tariffs in China, one of the most important and fastest growing wine markets in the world. These tariffs are significantly harming U.S. exports to China and negotiations so far have not addressed China’s retaliation, resulting in challenging conditions for the entire domestic market.

The U.S. wine community, from grape to glass, is an essential part of our economy and we urge you not to target wine in trade disputes which have nothing at all to do with wine. We hope you will exhaust all means possible to resolve these issues without resorting to retaliatory tariffs on wine. Thank you for your consideration.

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Written by: California Department of Insurance

Published: 10 January 2020

Created: 10 January 2020

Last Updated: 10 January 2020

SACRAMENTO – Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has announced his appointments of the newest members to the Curriculum Board and the California Insurance Guarantee Association, or CIGA, Board of Governors that work to protect the interests of California consumers.

The Curriculum Board oversees the development of prelicensing and continuing education curriculum for agents and brokers to uphold professional standards that protect consumers. This includes a list of preapproved courses of study as well as courses of study for professional designations.

This board also develops standards for providers and instructors who provide courses and other training to licensed agents and brokers.

“I am very pleased to announce my appointment of Neal Bordenave, Jesse Dogillo and Mimi Yoon-Lee as the newest members of the Curriculum Board, whose knowledge and expertise will help to further the goal of ensuring a robust program of study to properly prepare licensees for the insurance business while protecting California consumers,” said Commissioner Lara.

They have been appointed in the insurance agent representative, life agent representative and life agent trade association representative, respectively, with terms ending Jan. 21, 2023.

Bordenave is president and CEO of RiskPro Insurance Services Inc. He has over 25 years of insurance and risk management expertise and also provides insurance litigation consulting and expert witness services.

Bordenave is an adjunct professor at California State University, Chico where he teaches courses in corporate finance as well as risk management and insurance.

Dogillo is the owner of Bay Area Financial and Insurance Services, an independent insurance agency which issues life, health, disability, long term care, and property casualty insurance.

He also teaches at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a risk management/insurance instructor and serves as the current chapter president of the Asian American Financial & Insurance Professional Association.

Yoon-Lee is the assistant vice president for investment advisor training at Lincoln Financial Network. She is responsible for the creation and development of the network’s national advisor training programs including national conferences and specialized training.

In her 22 years with the firm, Yoon-Lee has also served as both the director of insurance and the director of marketing. She serves as the president-elect for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors-California, or NAIFA-California, and trustee for the NAIFA-California State Board.

The CIGA Board of Governors oversees the guarantee association’s general operations and management in order to protect policyholders in the event of an insurance company insolvency.

Established in 1969 by the Governor and California State Legislature, CIGA comprises all insurance companies licensed to sell homeowners, workers’ compensation, automobile, and other specified lines of insurance in California.

“I also have the privilege to announce my appointment of Richard De La Mora as a new representative to the CIGA Board of Governors, a long-standing entity which has the important role of protecting California consumers from loss in the event that an insurer becomes insolvent,” added Commissioner Lara.

De La Mora is the senior vice president and counsel, head of personal lines and strategy at Farmers Group Inc., where he is responsible for legal and regulatory oversight of Farmers Personal Lines products throughout the United States.

Previously, he worked in private civil practice for Barger & Wolen LLP, a California insurance regulatory and litigation firm representing insurers and health care plans in regulatory and litigation matters including conservation and liquidation proceedings.

De La Mora joins the CIGA Board of Governors as the representative for Farmers Group in a member insurer seat for the remainder of an existing term ending Dec. 31, 2021.

The next Curriculum Board meeting will be held on Thursday, February 20, at the department.

The next CIGA Board of Governors meeting will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

More details are available at: www.insurance.ca.gov/boards or you may send an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..