**Update**Check your bank’s rating and list of closed banks to-date

***Update*** This post was originally published on February 26. However, due to numerous searches for keywords “Failed Banks” and “Bank ratings” which lead searchers to this blog, I feel a sense of responsibility to update and republish it with additional bank closings added to the list. As you can see, there have been quite a few additions. With all that is happening at a rapid pace, these closings seem to be lost in the noise. But as you can see, bank closings continue fairly steadily.

Right now, we all feel like we don’t know what to do with cash if we have it.

Many of us have accounts with banks and worry about whether or not they are solvent. Even with the FDIC promise, I know many people still worry about how easily or quickly they would be able to get access to their own money if their bank were to have problems.

You should also know that if a large failing bank were to be Nationalized, the stockholders would take the hit, but the account holders would not. In other words, if you have an account in one of these banks, it will remain intact. Whether or not limits would be set on how and when money can be removed remains to be seen. It has happened with some of these banks that have failed in order to quell “Runs” on the money.

So it would be a LOT easier to check your bank’s status now than to worry about it later. Of course, a bank’s rating can change as well, from bad to better or from good to not-so-good. So it’s best to check back every so often.

If you want to check your bank’s current rating or your credit union’s rating, go to the Safe and Sound at Bankrate.com.

You can also check the ratings for all the banks in your city, state, region. For each bank, you can get a report that provides more details as to why the bank has a particular rating.

Here’s a list of bank closings for 2008 and 2009. You can see 2007 and earlier closing list here. As you can see, this has been going on for awhile. The publicity on these closings was practically non-existent in 2007, and fairly paltry in 2008. In fact if you click on that link, you will see that there were bank Closings all the way back to 2000, with Penny Pritzker’s Superior Bank as one of the early, avoid-the-rush sub-prime lender seizures.

In some cases, the FDIC takes over the bank, but in many of the cases, accounts are just transferred to more solvent area banks, which makes for a smoother transition for customers.

2009

May 01-American West Bank-Layton, UT

May 01-Citizens Community Bank-Ridgewood, NJ

May 01-Silverton Bank, N.A.-Atlanta, GA

Apr 24-First Bank of Idaho-Ketchum, ID

Apr 24-First Bank of Beverly Hills-Calabasas, CA

Apr 24-Michigan Heritage Bank-Farmington Hills, MI

Apr 24-American Southern Bank-Kennesaw,GA

Apr 17-Great Basin Bank of Nevada-Elko, NV

Apr 17-American Sterling Bank-Sugar Creek, MO

Apr 10-New Frontier Bank, Greeley, CO

Apr 10-Cape Fear Bank-Wilminton, NC

Mar 27-Omni National Bank-Atlanta, GA

Mar 20-Team Bank N.A.-Paola, KS

Mar 20-Colorado National Bank-Colorado Springs, CO

Mar 20-First City Bank-Stockbridge, GA

Mar 06-Freedom Bank of Georgia-Commerce, GA

Feb 27-Security Savings Bank-Henderson, NV

Feb 27- Heritage Community Bank-Glenwood, Ill

Feb 13 – Pinnacle Bank of Oregon-Beaverton, OR

Feb13- Cornbelt Bank and Trust Co. – Pittsfield, Ill

Feb 13- Riverside Bank of Gulf Coast – Cape Coral, FLA

Feb 13 – Sherman County Bank- Loup City, NEB

Feb 6 – County Bank – Merced, CA

Feb 6 – Alliance Bank-Culver City CA

Feb 6 – FirstBank Financial Services -McDonough, GA

Jan 30 -Ocala National Bank – Ocala, FLA

Jan 30 – Suburban Federal Savings Bank – Crofton, MD

Jan 30 – Magnet Bank – Salt Lake City, UT

Jan 23 – First Centennial Bank – Redlands, CA

Jan 16 – Bank Of Clark County – Vancouver, WA

Jan 16 – National Bank of Commerce – Berkeley, ILL

2008

Dec 12 – Sanderson State Bank – Sanderson, TX

Dec 12 – Haven Trust Bank – Duluth, GA

Dec 5 First Georgia Community Bank – Jackson, GA

Nov 21 – PFF Bank and Trust – Pomona, CA

Nov 21 – Downey Savings and Loan Association, F.A – Newport Beach, CA

Nov 21 – Community Bank- Loganville, GA

Nov 7 – Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, CA

Nov 7 – Franklin Bank, SSB – Houston, TX

Oct 31 – Freedom Bank- Bradenton, FLA

Oct 24 – Alpha Bank and Trust – Alpharetta, GA

Oct 10 – Meridian Bank-Eldred, ILL

Oct 10 – Main Street Bank – Northville, MI

Sept 25 – Washington Mutual Bank-Henderson, NV and Park City, UT

Sept 19 – Ameribank-Northfork, WV

Sept 5 – Silver State Bank-Henderson, NV

Aug 29 – Integrity Bank-Alpharetta, GA

Aug 22 – Columbia Bank and Trust-Topeka, KAN

Aug 1 – First Priority Bank-Bradenton, FLA

Jul 25 – First Heritage Bank, N.A-Newport Beach, CA

Jul 25 – First National Bank of Nevada-Reno, NV

Jul 11 – IndyMac Bank – Pasadena, CA

May 30 – First Integrity Bank, NA-Naples, FLA

May 9 – ANB Financial, NA, Bentonville, AZ

Mar 2 – Hume Bank-Hume, MO

Jan 25 – Douglass National Bank-Kansas City, MO