U.S. regulators closed four small banks on Friday — two in Georgia, one in Minnesota and one in California, bringing the total of U.S. bank failures to 44 this year, according to a Reuters Report.

My local bank failed and was taken over by a healthy bank, so there were really no issues for me personally, but that is not everyone’s experience. You need to know if your bank is solvent, make sure it’s FDIC insured and consider moving to another bank if you dont like what you see.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) said the weekend bank closings affected:

Community Bank of West Georgia, a small bank in Villa Rica, Georgia, with assets of $199.4 million and total deposits of $182.5 million, as of May 15. A buyer could not be found, so the FDIC was appointed as receiver and will mail checks to insured depositors for their insured funds on June 29.
Neighborhood Community Bank, of Newnan, Georgia, with $221.6 million in assets and $191.3 million in deposits, as of March 31. CharterBank, of West Point, Georgia, agreed to assume the insured deposits and $209.6 million of the assets. Neighborhood’s four offices will reopen as CharterBank branches.
Horizon Bank, of Pine City, Minnesota, with $87.6 million in assets and $69.4 million in deposits as of March 31. Stearns Bank, NA, of St Cloud, Minnesota, agreed to assume all of Horizon’s deposits and to buy $84.4 million of its assets. Horizon’s two offices will reopen on Saturday as Stearns branches.
MetroPacific Bank, of Irvine, California, with $80 million in assets and $73 million in deposits, as of June 8. Sunwest Bank, of Tustin, California, agreed to assume all of the deposits, excluding those from brokers, and virtually all of MetroPacific’s assets. MetroPacific’s sole office will reopen on Monday as a branch of Sunwest Bank.

Customers can access their money over the weekend by check, teller machine or debit card, the FDIC said.

In 2008, 25 U.S. banks were seized by officials, up from only 3 in 2007. While there is not a list of FDIC banks that are solvent, you can see the complete list of failed banks here at the FDIC web site, or type in your bank name here to check out what the FDIC says. Or check the bank ratings at Bankrate.com.

During the current financial crisis, Seattle-based lender Washington Mutual became the biggest bank to fail in U.S. history. It was closed in September while suffering from losses from soured mortgages and liquidity problems. In this case, WaMu was sold to JP Morgan Chase Bank.

What happens when a bank is taken over by the governement FDIC?

If your bank is taken over by the FDIC, it could be smooth — or a real hassle.

Regulators generally close a bank on a Friday. Most often, another bank has been lined up to buy the failed bank’s business, minus any problem loans and troubled assets. Regulators immediately turn the bank over to the FDIC, which works over the weekend to ensure an orderly transition, and the bank reopens with new ownership on Monday. Meanwhile, the old bank’s customers can conduct their business as usual, accessing accounts using ATMs, checks and debit cards as if nothing had happened. That access continues once the bank reopens, and at some point the new bank will issue new checks, cards, etc.

If a healthy bank can’t be found to take over the failed one, however, it’s a different story. The FDIC will notify you that the bank is closing, and then your deposit accounts will be effectively shut down. It may take a few days before you get a check from the FDIC for your insured money. Remember that FDIC insurance is good up to $250,000.