Further, due to the large number of mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry over the years, it is possible you – either as owner or heir of a deceased family member – might well be entitled to an account or safe deposit box at a bank that has failed, and not even know it.

More than 1,400 banks and 700 savings institutions closed in the aftermath of the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s. The current credit crunch has put nearly 100 banks into FDIC receivership in just the last two years, including the largest ever – Washington Mutual (WaMu) – with many more certain to follow.

An explanation of the rules for claiming insured deposits at banks that have closed, and a list of failed banks and those that they have acquired over the years is available at: http://www.failedbankreporter.com

My immediate concern, should the FDIC find itself short of cash, is that it will simply turn from dragging its feet on closing banks to dragging its feet on paying out depositor claims. This means that if you have money in a failed bank, it could be tied up for quite some time.

Here's the advice I gave last year when I wrote about the FDIC:

Do not keep more than $100k in any one bank account (okay, no genius insight there…)
Always keep 1-2 months worth of basic living expenses, in cash, out of the bank but in a safe place. This way, if the banks close down, the ATMs aren’t working, and checks won’t clear, you’ll still be able to go on with things as the crisis gets resolved. And don’t worry; you won’t be losing much in the way of interest payments on that cash.
Be prepared to run, not walk, down to the bank to remove your funds if the bank looks like it’s going down. Being one step ahead of the legal machinery could save you a lot of anxiety, if not your money. Here I would keep a sharp eye on the bank's stock price, because that will give you the earliest possible warning. The FDIC is notorious (and for good reason) for keeping mum about a troubled bank prior to seizing the assets.
All banks are NOT created equal. Only keep your money in a Blue Ribbon bank (as rated by Veribanc in theirBlue Ribbon Report ) or in one that is rated “B+” or higher by TheStreet.com. If need be, separate your holdings across several banks to assure your risk is not overly concentrated. Also, just ask around – some banks play a riskier game than their local brethren, and knowing who’s who could be a real life saver.
Another great place to check on your bank is to see if it appears on this unofficial list of troubled banksmaintained at Calculated Risk. If my banks were on that list (I use several, all highly rated, to spread the risk), I would switch to a different (highly rated, naturally) bank.

You might also want to read my prior report on the FDIC, because it covers the legal language from the FDI Act, which unequivocally states that depositors may only be paid from money that exists within the insurance fund (which is now depleted).

http://bluelori.blogspot.com/2009/08/proof-fdic...

READ THESE COURT DOCUMENTS!

JPMorgan admits that the FDIC took over a solvent bank in one of the latest court documents…

Please, take some time and read these documents. They are a bit long but well worth the read. Don't you wonder why the main stream media doesn't mention the suppose “failure” of the largest financial institution in America? Wamu was a 100+ year old company…..Here is a link to all documents filed through the BK Court;

http://www.kccllc.net/wamu

Jamie Dimon planted “moles” in Wamu??? JPMorgan committed corporate fraud???

http://www.kccllc.net/documents/0812229/0812229...

Wamu's claims against JPMorgan/Chase;

http://wmish.com/doc/gov/0603/JPM_V_WMI_-_ANSWE...

http://wamustory.com/
http://wamuqd.com/
http://www.wamu-shareholders-resources.com/wamu...
http://wamuequity.org/history.html
http://www.wamucoup.com/