FDIC 101

Up front, this may be a pretty long posting because there is a lot that I'm wanting to "eh-splain to ju". (And it will be LOTS more fun to read if you use the Spanish accent while doing it!)

On Friday the 17th of April, the FDIC officially closed Great Basin Bank of Nevada. There were three FDIC employees that came to our branch in Spring Creek, introduced themselves to me, and then waited until the last customer left the branch and then let everyone else know what was going on. The grand scheme of the process is that the FDIC takes possession of everything bank-owned (cash, checks, machines, etc.) and it all has to be inventoried. We all stayed at the branch until 11:00 Friday night counting the vault, cash drawers, ATM, traveler's checks, cashier's checks, money orders, keys, and just about anything else you could think of counting. On Saturday (from 9:00 - 5:00) we were wrapping that up and making sure that all of the GBB stuff (mugs, pens, posters, signs, hats, keychains, etc) were gone and starting to put up some stuff for Nevada State Bank. On Sunday (from 9:00 - 3:00) we spent the day making sure that everything would be ready to go for Monday morning opening as Nevada State Bank and were re-issued keys and cash drawers (for the tellers) from NSB and not GBB. On Monday morning (the 20th), we opened up at 7:45 a.m. ready for customers...

Why? - there were a couple of "complimentary" reasons for the failure of GBB (from my limited understanding) including massive losses in investments that are normally very secure. You know, conservative investments in businesses like Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac - who were thought impervious to most any economic downturn... :( Also, GBB at some point in time had been encouraged to diversify their commercial loan portfolio so that there wasn't such a high percentage of loans tied to the local economy... makes sense right? Well, when it so happens that you have a million dollars invested in a loan for a golf course/housing development in Louisana and then a silly little storm called Katrina hits, you lose your money! When you are an individual and lose a bunch on the stock market, it hurts a lot and you pick yourself up as best you can and keep going to work to continue to earn money. When you are a bank and don't have enough capital to operate in what the FDIC considers a "safe" position, you get shut down.

Personnel - as of 6:00 p.m. on Friday night, I (along with all of the other former GBB employees) have been working as a temp for a company that is contracted by the FDIC for just such situations. Everyone's time is now tracked on an hourly basis until such a time as NSB chooses to make an employment offer or not as the case may be. The timeframe that they are looking at is roughly 30-45 days - which is a pretty quick turn-around but as the saying goes at the entrance to the bathroom... "how long a minute is depends on which side of the door you're on".

Impressions - Overall, if I can remove the shock and personal anxiety out of it, it's been a very interesting process to see up close and personal. The way the acquisition took place, not a single depositor lost any of their money (stockholders are a whole different story) - which is nice, and again, that's exactly what the FDIC is for. I think that NSB will work hard to be a good business in the communities where they now have a much larger presence than they did before.

How are we? - From the impressions that I've gotten from various sources, I feel pretty hopeful to be offered a position with NSB - so my concern has gone from "will I possibly be offered a job" to "will they offer me a job that I can support my family on?" On a more personal level, I got news today that our refinance that's been in the works (including having the appraisal done) was denied for... you guessed it, I don't have a job! As a "temporary" employee, I don't have a verifiable income. Nothing like a little kick to the nads when you're already on the floor. :)

Anyways, we're keeping our chins up and taking it one day at a time. Ultimately, I feel that we'll be okay no matter what happens as far as employment with NSB. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and please, keep 'em coming as we're not totally out of the woods yet - but there is perhaps a faint light showing between the trees.

Nevada State Bank

Hi all. In case you didn't hear, Great Basin Bank no longer exists and has been bought out by Nevada State Bank. Jim is still working but we don't know much about what is going to happen in the future. Please keep us in your prayers. More information to come.

One more Makenna note....

This was with the last one, but I was afraid to post it because I can't figure it out after the "but"....I have an idea about it....but scared to admit what I think it is....Help!

Makenna strikes again

So, the tables are turned! HA HA! Last weekend during BUNCO, Ian babysat Makenna and Allie Hritz here at our house. This morning I discovered one of Makenna's famous (or is it INfamous--maybe we should call her El Guapo?) notes. I think I've got the gist of it, but wanted to put it out there for your comments/interpretations! Too funny!