Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › California › Sonoma County Savings and Loan Association
What happened to Sonoma County Savings and Loan Association?
Sonoma County Savings and Loan Association in Santa R0sa, CA merged into Great American Bank, a Federal Savings Bank of San Diego, CA on Jul 31, 1982. The chain runs 2 steps further and ends with no operating bank.
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the last entry on record. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1978Sonoma County Savings and Loan Association opens in Santa R0sa, CA
- Jul 31, 1982MERGEDSonoma County Savings and Loan Association merged into Great American Bank, a Federal Savings Bank of San Diego, CA.FDIC certificate 31918 ends; its business continues under certificate 28041.
- Oct 25, 1991FAILEDGreat American Bank, a Federal Savings Bank of San Diego, CA failed, and Great American Federal Savings Association of San Diego, CA took it over.FDIC certificate 28041 ends; its business continues under certificate 33520. The FDIC's failure list dates the failure Aug 9, 1991.
- May 13, 1994FAILEDGreat American Federal Savings Association of San Diego, CA failed and was closed. The FDIC record shows no successor.FDIC certificate 33520 ends.
- NO SUCCESSOR BANK
The FDIC record ends here. No operating bank carries this charter today.
If you still have something from Sonoma County Savings and Loan Association
A lien that was never released
Great American Bank, a Federal Savings Bank failed on Aug 9, 1991, handled by the Resolution Trust Corporation, the agency that closed failed savings institutions from 1989 to 1995. The FDIC's lien-release page covers failed banks and savings and loans placed in FDIC receivership; it does not say how releases work for resolutions this old.
Call FDIC Resolution Inquiries at 888-206-4662 (8am–4pm Central, weekdays) and ask whether the FDIC holds this institution's receivership. The FDIC's own instructions are at FDIC, Obtaining a Lien Release.
An old account, passbook or CD
When a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, insured depositors become its customers right away (here, Great American Federal Savings Association).
This failure is older than the current federal rule on unclaimed deposits (mid-1993), so different rules apply. Search FDIC unclaimed funds search, search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and ask FDIC Resolution Inquiries at 888-206-4662 what applies to this institution.
A safe deposit box
The FDIC says that when a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, the branches usually reopen the next business day with box access. A box abandoned for years may have been 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.
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 ▾
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 31918 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.