This entry refers to a departed business — a business that has closed or left town. Information here is mostly for historical reference.

From a 1991 phone book.

American Savings came to Santa Cruz County by acquiring the branches of Sears Savings in 1985. The Cooper Street address was a temporary office. In 1988 the federal regulators deemed American Savings, "...the most costly rescue of a single savings association."

As part of the transactions, the assets of American Savings were divided into two separate saving units, often referred to as a good bank and a bad bank. The American Savings Bank will house the institution's $14 billion in retail deposits and will have total assets of $16 billion, primarily invested in home mortgages. The bad bank, called the New West Federal Savings and Loan Association, will have the old American Savings' $15 billion portfolio of mortgage-backed securities that are financed by high-cost brokered deposits and other capital market borrowings, like reverse repurchase agreements.

The bad bank was to liquidate the mortgage securities portfolio, which had a loss of about $1.1 billion. New West Federal Savings and Loan Association is currently closed (since 1998-10-08) and was never listed in Santa Cruz County.

After the branches closed, American Savings kept a loan office at 8044 Soquel Drive until about 1993. The branches in Santa Cruz County were acquired by Coast Federal Bank.

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Related Links

• Departed Businesses
• Sears Savings
• Coast Federal Bank