A morning run on IndyMac Federal

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

This is Santa Monica this morning, where about 100 customers were lined up when the IndyMac Federal branch on Wilshire opened for its very first day of business. Judging by what I saw and heard, a number of customers have decided not to do their banking with the federal government.

‘We’re gonna close a couple of accounts,’ Jack Freed, of Stevenson Ranch, told me. ‘We’re just nervous. Not that any other bank would be any better, but as least they haven’t been taken over by the FDIC.’

The line looks shorter than it is -- it takes a left turn and snakes back into an alley, which at least offers some shade. I spoke with four customers, all were cleaning out their accounts. One guy figured he would lose $50,000 -- he says a teller had told him his money would be safe as long as no single account held more than $100,000. The guy holding the umbrella and sitting down near the left says he was first in line -- at 3:50 a.m.

Click here for more on nervous customers pulling cash out of IndyMac.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: L.A. Land