Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › New Jersey › West Essex Bank, FSB
What happened to West Essex Bank, FSB?
West Essex Bank, FSB in Caldwell, NJ (earlier called West Essex Savings and Loan Association and 1 other name) merged into Kearny Federal Savings Bank of Kearny, NJ on Jul 1, 2003. That bank is now called Kearny Bank (Kearny, NJ).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1915West Essex Savings and Loan Association opens in Caldwell, NJ
- Nov 30, 1987renamed West Essex Savings Bank, S.L.A.
- May 24, 1995renamed West Essex Bank, FSB
- Jul 1, 2003MERGEDWest Essex Bank, FSB merged into Kearny Federal Savings Bank of Kearny, NJ.FDIC certificate 30073 ends; its business continues under certificate 28765.
- TodayOPEN
Kearny BankMain office Kearny, NJ · FDIC certificate 28765 · 40 offices in 2 states on June 30, 2026Every Kearny Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.kearnybank.com
If you still have something from West Essex Bank, FSB
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows West Essex Bank, FSB as lienholder, start with Kearny Bank. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask Kearny Bank to search for the account under the name West Essex Bank, FSB. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask Kearny Bank which branch now holds boxes from the West Essex Bank, FSB office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain. The office list below shows which bank each office reports under now.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Its offices in the FDIC deposit reports
9 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. 2 are still open as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 267 Changebridge RdPine Brook, NJ | OpenKearny Bank |
| 417 Bloomfield AveCaldwell, NJ | OpenKearny Bank |
| 216 Main StreetWest Orange, NJ | No longer reported |
| 487 Pleasant Valley WayWest Orange, NJ | No longer reported |
| 267 Changebridge RoadPinebrook, NJ | No longer reported |
| 574 Franklin AvenueFranklin Lakes, NJ | No longer reported |
| 119 Paris AvenueNorthvale, NJ | No longer reported |
| 207 Old Tappan RoadOld Tappan, NJ | No longer reported |
| 653 Westwood AvenueRiver Vale, NJ | No longer reported |
Banks folded into West Essex Bank, FSB
1 bank merged directly into this charter.
| Bank | Ended |
|---|---|
| West Orange Savings and Loan AssociationWest Orange, NJ | Jun 30, 1987 |
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 30073 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.