FDIC to Auction Failed Banks’ Equipment, Furnishings

Still mad at the bank that folded on you last year right after you bought $10,000 worth of its stock? Seeking revenge because you didn’t get back all of your $200,000 deposit when the bank collapsed (even though you should have known it was federally insured to only $100,000)?

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday, you have a chance to ease the pain by picking up a deal or two on some expensive business equipment, computer systems and office furnishings that once graced the premises--and added to the operating expenses--of half a dozen Southland banks that have failed in the past two years.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s Southern California liquidation office is holding a public auction at its Santa Ana warehouse, located at 2701 S. Harbor Blvd. In its role as bank liquidator, the FDIC sells the assets, including furnishings and equipment, of failed banks. Proceeds from the auction will be used to reimburse the banks’ creditors.

One FDIC official said Saturday’s auction is the agency’s “first attempt at a large-scale sale.” An FDIC spokesman in Washington said the agency has held many small auctions around the country--”everything from horses to real estate”--but has never consolidated the office furnishings of several banks in one sale.

About 80% of the nearly 1,000 items in the auction are from the offices of Heritage Bank of Anaheim and West Coast Bank of Encino. Also included are goods from Bank of San Marino, Newport Harbour National Bank of Newport Beach and Commercial Bank of California and American City Bank, both of Los Angeles.

An astute bidder might even be able to pick up a piece of history: the chair Douglas Patty sat in while he was running Heritage (failed, March 16, 1984), or the desk Stephen Forde used as chairman of Bank of San Marino (declared insolvent, April 8, 1983).

Or you could get a deal on a slightly used IBM office-computer system, a paper shredder, a stereo system or a crate of calculators.

Or some of the “plush and prestigious” office fittings the auctioneer has praised in recent advertisements: couches, water coolers, sculptures, coffee tables, filing cabinets, credenzas, desks, chairs and office-size refrigerators and stoves.

Auction-goers will be required to ante up a $100 refundable cash deposit at the door, and all goods must be paid for in cash or by cashiers’ check, on the day of the sale, according to the FDIC’s rules. The warehouse will be open Friday for a preview inspection.

Although the auction is open to the public, many of the bidders are expected to be financial institutions who hope to use the equipment longer than the original owners. Some banks already have picked over the offerings in earlier trips to the FDIC’s warehouse in Santa Ana.

Independent banking consultant Gerry Findley said he has sent several clients to FDIC warehouses in recent months.

“I had one start-up bank . . . that got everything it needed to open up, including the vault door, for $26,000. It would have cost $200,000 on the outside,” Findley said.

Lawson & Lawson Auctioneers of Pasadena will be conducting the sale.

David Lawson, the auctioneering company’s president, said there is no minimum bid on any of the items being offered at Saturday’s auction. He estimated the total value of the items at $150,000 to $200,000 at current used equipment prices, but said it would easily be $800,000 at new prices.

“Most of these banks were only 1 or 2 years old,” Lawson said, “and their stuff is in real good shape.”