Please be advised you will not receive any email notification to claim/unlock/unsuspend your account or to provide any private information. Please be aware of any Phishing Scams to obtain information from you.
On Friday, March 19, 2010, Bank
of Hiawassee, Hiawassee, GA was
closed by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, and
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the
public when a financial institution is closed.
The FDIC has assembled useful information regarding your
relationship with this institution. Besides a checking
account, you may have Certificates of Deposit, a car loan, a business checking
account, a commercial loan, a Social Security direct deposit, and other relationships
with the institution. The FDIC has compiled the following
information, which should answer many of your questions.
The FDIC has issued a press release
(PR-060-2010) about
the institution's closure. If you represent a media outlet and
would like information about the closure, please contact Greg
Hernandez at
1-202-898-6984.
All deposit accounts, excluding
certain brokered deposits, have
been transferred to Citizens
South Bank, Gastonia,
NC ("assuming
institution")
and will be available immediately. The former Bank of Hiawassee locations will
reopen as branches of Citizens
South Bank during
regular business hours.
Your transferred deposits will be separately insured
from any accounts you may already have at Citizens
South Bank for six
months after the failure of Bank of Hiawassee.
Checks that were drawn on Bank of Hiawassee that
did not clear before the institution closed will be honored as long
as there are
sufficient funds in the account. If you have questions about your account(s) transferred to the assuming bank,
you may speak to an FDIC representative by calling 1-800-508-8289.
For general questions about FDIC deposit insurance coverage, please call 1-877-275-3342 or visit EDIE, the FDIC's Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator.
You may withdraw
your funds from any transferred account without an early withdrawal
penalty until you enter into a new deposit
agreement with Citizens South Bank as
long as the deposits are not pledged as collateral for loans. You
may view more
information about Citizens South Bank by visiting their web site.
The Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and online service will remain available.
The bank will maintain its regular business hours and you may continue to use the services to which you previously had access, such as safe deposit boxes, night deposit boxes, wire services, etc.
Your checks will be processed as usual. All outstanding checks
will be paid against your available balance(s) as if no change
had occurred. Your new bank will
contact you soon regarding any changes in the terms of your account. If
you have a problem with a merchant refusing to accept your check, please
contact your branch
office. An account representative will
clear up any confusion about the validity of your checks.
All interest accrued through Friday, March 19,
2010 will be paid at your same rate. Citizens
South Bank will
be reviewing rates. You
will be notified of any changes.
Your automatic direct deposit(s) and/or automatic
withdrawal(s) will be transferred automatically to your new bank. If
you have any questions or special requests, you may contact a
representative of your assuming institution at your
branch office.
If you had a loan with Bank of Hiawassee, you should
continue to make your payments as usual. The
terms of your loan will not change, because they are contractually agreed
to in your promissory note. Checks should be made payable as usual and
sent to the
same address until further notice. If you have further questions regarding
an existing loan, please contact
your loan officer.
For all questions regarding
new loans and the lending policies of Citizens South Bank, please contact your branch office.
Claims against failed financial
institutions occur when bills sent to the institution remain unpaid
at the time of failure. If you or
your company provided
a service or product, leased space, furniture,
or equipment to Bank of Hiawassee after
Friday, March 19, 2010 and have
not been paid, you do not have
a claim against Bank of Hiawassee.
Please follow your normal billing procedures by providing an invoice
as instructed.
If you or your company provided a service
or product, leased space, furniture, or equipment to Bank
of Hiawassee prior
to Friday, March 19, 2010 and have
not
been
paid, you may be
entitled to a claim against the bank. If you provided a product to
or a service for Bank of Hiawassee prior to
the bank's failure for
which you have not
been
paid
and you have not received communication, please
contact:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Receiver: Bank of Hiawassee
8800 Baymeadows Way West
Jacksonville, FL 32256
Attention: Claims Agent
Please note: There are time limits for filing a claim, your claim must be filed on or before 6/22/2010.
All shares of Bank of Hiawassee were owned by its holding company,
Chatuge Bank Shares, Inc., Hiawassee, GA. The holding company was
not included in the closing of the bank or the resulting receivership. If
you are a shareholder of Chatuge Bank Shares, Inc., please do not
contact or file a claim with the Receiver. You may contact Chatuge
Bank Shares, Inc., directly for information as follows:
Chatuge Bank Shares, Inc.
20 South Main Street
Hiawassee, GA 30546
1-706-896-2243
The FDIC offers a reference guide to deposit brokers acting as agents for their investor clientele. This site
outlines the FDIC's policies and procedures that must be followed by deposit brokers when filing for pass-through insurance
coverage on custodial accounts deposited in a failed FDIC Insured Institution.
