Monday Morning Quarterback
(Happy Labor Day)
On paper, it was a relatively ordinary real estate transaction (except maybe for the $0 price tag). However, for the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians based in Los Angeles County, it was a heartwarming renewal. For the first time in centuries, a piece of their ancestral territory belongs to them again. The property, previously owned by the Presbytery of San Gabriel (a unit of the Presbyterian Church, one of the largest Presbyterian denominations in the nation) holds offices, a kitchen and a community space, as well as an outdoor patio and green space. Now, under the new ownership of the tribe, led by the Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Council, the space will host cultural ceremonies, government meetings, programming for tribal youths and a community food bank. Unlike tribes with federal recognition, the hundreds without it have no direct legal means to negotiate with the U.S. government for reservations. Instead, they often set up nonprofit organizations to acquire land through agreements with private organizations or states. The result is that even to this day, tribes without land (including the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians until last week) have had to find a venue (often local parks) and get all the proper permissions and permits any time they wanted to hold a tribal gathering. Long before the property was a community center, it sat in Siban’gna. Siban’gna was a village of the First Peoples in the region. Nestled along the river, it was home to a few hundred Indians. Dome-shaped homes covered in tule, called “ki,” dotted the landscape. In 1771, Spanish priests tasked with establishing church footholds in the region decided to build what would become the San Gabriel Mission near the village. To execute the mission project, they exerted control over the Native communities and forced Indigenous people (many of whose descendants now refer to themselves as “Gabrieleno,” a term derived from the mission) into forced labor to construct and maintain the mission. Now, more than 250 years after the Spanish first settled in current-day Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians (one of several Gabrieleno tribes acknowledged by the state) has finally regained a portion of their tribal land in an emotional ceremony. In other real estate investor news on this Labor Day, let’s get under the hood…
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U.S. Foreclosure Activity Jumps 13% Year Over Year. Investors always want the latest foreclosure numbers. And for that we turn to ATTOM real estate analytics. Their July 2025 “U.S. Foreclosure Market Report,” shows there were a total of 36,128 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions) up 11 percent from a month ago and up 13 percent from a year ago. “July’s foreclosure activity continues to trend upward year-over-year, with increases in both starts and completions,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “While rising home prices are helping many owners maintain equity, the steady climb in filings suggests growing pressure in some markets.” Nationwide, one in every 3,939 housing units had a foreclosure filing in July 2025. States with the worst foreclosure rates were Nevada (one in every 2,326 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Florida (one in every 2,420 housing units); Maryland (one in every 2,566 housing units); South Carolina (one in every 2,588 housing units); and Illinois (one in every 2,727 housing units). Among the 110 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 500,000, those with the worst foreclosure rates in July 2025 were Bakersfield, CA (one in every 1,538 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Cape Coral, FL (one in every 1,735 housing units); Lakeland, FL (one in every 1,802 housing units); Columbia, SC (one in every 1,803 housing units); and Deltona, FL (one in every 1,818 housing units). Those major metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million with the worst foreclosure rates in July 2025 were: Houston, TX (one in every 1,882 housing units); Jacksonville, FL (one in every 1,893 housing units); Las Vegas, NV (one in every 1,914 housing units); Riverside, CA (one in every 1,921 housing units); and Cleveland, OH (one in every 2,030 housing units). States that had the greatest number of foreclosure starts in July 2025 included: Texas (3,600 foreclosure starts); Florida (2,891 foreclosure starts); California (2,830 foreclosure starts); Illinois (1,177 foreclosure starts); and Ohio (1,029 foreclosure starts).
Anyone Selling A House Should Be Following The ‘Zillow Ban’ Lawsuit Closely. Two major lawsuits filed over the last two months against the real-estate platform Zillow and the National Association of Realtors, seek to answer the question of who really controls home listings in America. The lawsuits, filed by two real-estate companies, challenge the status quo of how for-sale listings are seen by millions of users on the internet. Under the current policy, which is essentially enforced by real-estate platforms, buyers can see almost all U.S. homes for sale online within 24 hours of the properties being publicly marketed for sale. Because all public for-sale listings are fed to real-estate platforms, home sellers can get the highest level of exposure and the highest price possible. That exposure matters a lot to some sellers right now, as the industry is facing a lull. The housing market has been sluggish in the last few years, and sellers are increasingly getting stung by reluctant buyers. “It does benefit the seller to have as many people to see the property as possible,” David Palmer, a real-estate agent with Redfin in Seattle. “For sellers that want to maximize their sales, it’s best to get more eyes on it than not.” Consumer advocates also support the status quo of online for-sale listings. The fuss stated within Zillow’s new rule prohibiting any home listings from its platform that appear on any other service for more than 24 hours before going up on Zillow. Critics have dubbed the rule, which went into effect Monday, the “Zillow ban.” In the first lawsuit, the real-estate brokerage Compass accused Zillow of being anti-competitive with its Zillow ban. Compass argues that it should be able to offer listings marketed exclusively via its own platform without having them appear on Zillow. Zillow, for its part, has said that “consumers deserve fair access to listings without having to worry about access behind a velvet rope controlled by another company.” The second lawsuit was filed by pocket-listings website ThePLS.com against the NAR, a lobbying group that represents the real-estate industry. Mauricio Umansky, a celebrity real-estate agent who has appeared in “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and starred in “Buying Beverly Hills,” is a co-founder of the website. The plaintiffs want to keep some listings private and only accessible to those who hire certain brokers. Stay tuned for further developments as these cases are litigated.
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The County Bought Its New Headquarters For Cheap. Rehabbers take note; this story may sound familiar. It was billed as a bargain-basement deal: L.A. County would buy the Gas Company Tower for $200 million — a third of what the downtown skyscraper cost before the pandemic sent office prices plummeting. But now nine months after the sale closed, some of the supervisors say they have sticker shock. The sore point: a looming $230-million contract for “voluntary seismic upgrades” to the newly purchased tower, soon to become the county’s new headquarters. “I never heard that it would double the cost of the purchase,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who cast a “hell no” vote against buying the building. “I’m holding out hope that smarter minds will prevail, and we can stop any more investment in this building.” The county’s financial future has never looked so grim. Before the purchase, the supervisors were given ballpark figures as to just how much it would cost to bring the Gas Company Tower into tiptop shape vs. rehabbing the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, the county’s current headquarters (which is widely viewed by county employees as a death trap during the next major earthquake). To earthquake-proof the hall (by far the riskiest of the two buildings) it could cost $700 million, according to estimates provided to the Board last fall. To do the same for the newer Gas Company Tower, the county Chief Executive Office estimated it could potentially cost about $400 million. (As of now, the county is planning to spend less than that with a bid amount of $234.5 million.) The Gas Company Tower came out looking the better deal by about a billion dollars, according to the Chief Executive Office, once it took into account other costs needed to upgrade the Hall of Administration — including more than a billion dollars in deferred maintenance and improvements. The tower is one of many L.A. skyscrapers that incorporates a “steel moment frame” as part of its structure. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, buildings with the frame did not collapse (but some were badly damaged).
Shohei Ohtani Distracted With Hawaii Real Estate Lawsuit. Shohei Otani’s name is in headlines again. And, for the second time in two years, not for baseball reasons. News emerged this week that Ohtani (the Dodgers’ two-way star and reigning National League MVP) was being sued along with his agent in Hawaii by a real estate investor and broker. The claim: That Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo of Creative Artists Agency, had the plaintiffs fired from a $240-million luxury housing development that Ohtani had been contracted to help endorse. The contours of the case are complicated, relating to contract law, tortious interference and two years of alleged disputes between Balelo and the plaintiffs, developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto. Ultimately, Hayes and Matsumoto were terminated from the project. But as it pertains to Ohtani and this current Dodgers season, only one question really matters: Will the situation create any distraction for him off the field? When pressed on that Wednesday, he quickly shut the idea down. “I want to focus on the field,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “I’d like the team as a whole to win a game quickly and try to win each and every game.” According to the lawsuit, Hayes and Matsumoto reached an endorsement deal with Ohtani in 2023 for their luxury housing development on Hawaii’s Big Island. The Japanese star was not only to be a spokesperson for the project, but also a resident committed to purchasing one of the development’s 14 residences as an offseason home. However, the lawsuit claims, Balelo increasingly demanded unspecified concessions (the details of which were redacted in the filing) over the last two years from Hayes and Matsumoto — becoming what they described as a “disruptive force” who “inserted himself into every aspect of the relationship.” Last month, the lawsuit alleges, Balelo went to Hayes’ and Matsumoto’s business partner, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, and threatened litigation if the two weren’t terminated from the project. The lawsuit also claims that Balelo’s supposed threat of litigation — which pertained to the use of Ohtani’s name, image and likeness rights being used to promote a separate real estate project on Hawaii’s Big Island — was “baseless,” amounting to an “abuse of power” by Ohtani’s longtime agent to “force a business partner to betray its contractual obligations and strip Plaintiffs of the very project they conceived and built.” “Real estate tends to bring out emotions in people,” Kingsbarn says. “You have a high-profile real estate developer. You have a high-profile real estate agent. You have a sports agent over at CAA. You’re talking about big egos here. And when that happens, and someone feels slighted, oftentimes… litigation is the result.”
6th Annual Los Angeles Real Estate Grand Expo. Join the finest builders, contractors, property managers, landlords, investors, and related real estate professionals, at the largest real estate event in Southern California, featuring 12 national speakers, 70 real estate vendors, food trucks, free workshops, and the ultimate networking. Saturday, November 8, 2025, at the Iman Cultural Center, 3376 Motor Avenue, Culver City, CA. RSVP: www.LAGrandExpo.com.
Vendors Expo Returns! Our world-famous "Vendors Expo" returns in 2025, on Thursday night, September 11, 2025. The Vendor Expo opens starting at 6:30 pm. We'll have 30+ of the finest vendors featuring real estate products and services you will want to utilize as a successful investor. Our Vendor Expo will be held at the Iman Cultural Center, 3376 Motor Avenue (between National and Palms), Culver City CA. FREE Admission. Please RSVP at our website, LARealEstateInvestors.com.
"You Go Girl." Both men and women invest in real estate. But honesty, women have certain “challenges” that men just don’t have to think about. (Men, you may have no clue what we’re referring to, but women know exactly.) So please join us at the Los Angeles County Real Estate Investors Association September meeting, Thursday night, September 11, 2025, 6:30 to 9:30 pm, where you will learn how to confront these challenges and become a successful real estate investor. This month we have a unique panel of four women who are kicking butt in Real Estate? These women have been in the trenches, confronted and conquered challenges, and know how to swing a hammer (though they’ve learned they don’t have to). And that’s what they will share with you. Their stories are as different as their personalities, but they all share two things in common: They are successful at what they do and they earn a good living doing it! Attend and learn what advantages women have when investing in real estate. (Men; you can attend too, but at your own risk.) This joint event with the Women's Real Estate Network ("WREN") is always our largest attended event of the year! Don't miss it!
This Week. Looking ahead, investors will continue watching for additional information about tariffs and monitor comments from Fed officials for hints about rate cuts later in the year. For economic reports, the ISM National Manufacturing Sector Index will be released tomorrow and the Services Sector Index on Thursday. The key Employment report will be released on Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These figures on the number of jobs, the unemployment rate, and wage inflation are always closely watched. Markets are closed today for Labor Day.
Weekly Changes:
10-Year Treasuries: Flat 000 bps
Dow Jones Average: Fell 100 points
Nasdaq: Rose 100 points
Calendar:
Tuesday (9/02): ISM Manufacturing
Thursday (9/4): ISM Services
Friday (9/5): ISM Employment
For further information, comments, and questions:
Lloyd Segal
President
Los Angeles County Real Estate Investors Association
