2009 Prediction of 50 Bank Closings

New Year's Day is here and it's time for some 2009 predictions. The falling real estate prices are leading to increasing mortgage loan defaults and foreclosures. 2009 will continue that trend. The FDIC closed about two dozen banks in 2008. They probably would have closed more, but lacked the staff to handle them all. They were able to push off most of the closed banks onto healthier banks, but the FDIC got stuck managing the big one, IndyMac Bank. Up until New Year's Eve, they were still negotiating with Fannie Mae over some bad loans made by IndyMac in an effort to get the best possible sale price from Dune Capital Management and others.

The FDIC is increasing staff for 2009 and soon hopes to have the troubles of IndyMac Bank behind them. The increased staff will be able to handle more bank closings, so it is not difficult to predict that 2009 will see the closing of 50 banks or more. What is more difficult is to predict which banks are most likely to close.

Here's my list of the 50 banks most likely to close in 2009:

1 Magnet Bank, Salt Lake City, UT
2 Citizens Community Bank, Ridgewood, NJ
3 FirstBank Financial Services, McDonough, GA
4 Westsound Bank, Bremerton, WA
5 Suburban Federal Savings Bank, Crofton, MD
6 America West Bank, Layton, UT
7 The Community Bank, Loganville, GA
8 Silver Falls Bank, Silverton, OR
9 Ocala National Bank, Ocala, FL
10 Sun Security Bank, Ellington, MO
11 Eastern Savings Bank, FSB, Hunt Valley, MD
12 Alliance Bank, Culver City, CA
13 FirstCity Bank, Stockbridge, GA
14 Chestatee State Bank, Dawsonville, GA
15 First Security National Bank, Norcross, GA
16 Ocean Bank, Miami, FL
17 First Georgia Community Bank, Jackson, GA
18 Family Bank and Trust Co., Palos Hills, IL
19 Southern Community Bank, Fayetteville, GA
20 BankCherokee, Saint Paul, MN
21 First Tuskegee Bank, Tuskegee, AL
22 Federal Trust Bank, Sanford, FL
23 Pinnacle Bank, Beaverton, OR
24 Lake Country Community Bank, Morristown, MN
25 Mesa Bank, Mesa, AZ
26 Bank of Wyoming, Thermopolis, WY
27 1st American State Bank of Minnesota, Hancock, MN
28 First State Bank of Altus, Altus, OK
29 EvaBank, Eva, AL
30 Strategic Capital Bank, Champaign, IL
31 Ebank, Atlanta, GA
32 Polk County Bank, Johnston, IA
33 Parkway Bank, Rogers, AR
34 Security Bank of Gwinnett County, Suwanee, GA
35 State Bank of Park Rapids, Park Rapids, MN
36 Herrin Security Bank, Herrin, IL
37 Omni National Bank, Atlanta, GA
38 Northpointe Bank, Grand Rapids, MI
39 Towne Bank of Arizona, Mesa, AZ
40 Haven Trust Bank, Duluth, GA
41 Timberland Bank, El Dorado, AR
42 Blue Ridge Savings Bank, Inc., Asheville, NC
43 First Piedmont Bank, Winder, GA
44 Select Bank, Grand Rapids, MI
45 Oxford Bank, Oxford, MI
46 Security Bank of North Metro, Woodstock, GA
47 MetroPacific Bank, Irvine, CA
48 Earthstar Bank, Southampton, PA
49 Neighborhood Community Bank, Newnan, GA
50 The Home Savings and Loan Company, Youngstown, OH

Surprisingly, only two California banks make my list.