Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › California › Mechanics National Bank
What happened to Mechanics National Bank?
Mechanics National Bank in Paramount, CA failed, and Home Bank of Los Angeles, CA took it over on Apr 1, 1994. After 2 more changes of hands, what was Mechanics National Bank is today part of Bank of Hawaii (Honolulu, HI).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1965Mechanics National Bank opens in Paramount, CA
- Apr 1, 1994FAILEDMechanics National Bank failed, and Home Bank of Los Angeles, CA took it over.FDIC certificate 19367 ends; its business continues under certificate 16945.
- Aug 14, 1998MERGEDHome Bank (by then renamed California United Bank) of Los Angeles, CA merged into Pacific Century Bank, National Association of Los Angeles, CA.FDIC certificate 16945 ends; its business continues under certificate 25049.
- Dec 28, 2001MERGEDPacific Century Bank, National Association of Los Angeles, CA merged into Bank of Hawaii of Honolulu, HI.FDIC certificate 25049 ends; its business continues under certificate 18053.
- TodayOPEN
Bank of HawaiiMain office Honolulu, HI · FDIC certificate 18053 · 52 offices in 4 states on June 30, 2026Every Bank of Hawaii office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.boh.com
If you still have something from Mechanics National Bank
A lien that was never released
Mechanics National Bank failed on Apr 1, 1994. For a failed bank placed in FDIC receivership, the FDIC may be able to issue the lien release, if the loan was paid off to the bank before it failed or to the FDIC afterward. The FDIC says that where a failed bank had an acquirer, its records in most cases went to that acquirer. Here the chain from the acquirer leads to Bank of Hawaii, which is worth asking too.
Requests go through the FDIC Information and Support Center with the recorded mortgage or title, and proof of payoff. The FDIC says to allow 30 business days once it has every document, and does not take requests by phone or email. Questions: FDIC Resolution Inquiries, 888-206-4662, 8am–4pm Central on weekdays.
An old account, passbook or CD
When a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, insured depositors become its customers right away (here, Home Bank). Start with Bank of Hawaii, and ask them to search under the name Mechanics National Bank.
For failures since mid-1993 the law sets a clock: insured deposits not claimed within 18 months of the FDIC starting to pay depositors are offered to the state of the depositor's last known address on the bank's records. If the state takes them, the owner has 10 years to claim there before the money returns to the FDIC. Check FDIC unclaimed funds search and that state's unclaimed-property program.
A safe deposit box
The FDIC says that when a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, the branches usually reopen the next business day with box access. Today, ask Bank of Hawaii. A box abandoned for years may have been turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 19367 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.