US authorities closed a Washington state bank on Friday, bringing the total number of foreclosures in 2011 to 44. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said state authorities closed First Heritage Bank in Snohomish, Wash. The five branches of First Heritage will reopen on Tuesday as branches of Columbia State Bank, and depositors will automatically become depositors of Columbia, the FDIC said in a statement.
In 2010, 157 banks failed following 140 failures in 2009. The bulk of the failures have increasingly been smaller institutions, those with less than $1 billion in assets, as large banks have recovered more quickly from the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
First Heritage had $174 million in total assets. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said the agency expects the number of failures to drop in 2011. Community banks continue to struggle with the weak economy and many are facing problems related to their exposure to the commercial real estate market.
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