Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › California › Desert Empire Bank
What happened to Desert Empire Bank?
Desert Empire Bank in Cathedral City, CA merged into Commonwealth Bank of Torrance, CA on Mar 28, 1980. The chain runs 2 steps further and ends with no operating bank.
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the last entry on record. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1973Desert Empire Bank opens in Cathedral City, CA
- Mar 28, 1980MERGEDDesert Empire Bank merged into Commonwealth Bank of Torrance, CA.FDIC certificate 21229 ends; its business continues under certificate 22026.
- Sep 25, 1987FAILEDCommonwealth Bank of Torrance, CA failed, and Capital Bank of California of Los Angeles, CA took it over.FDIC certificate 22026 ends; its business continues under certificate 23183.
- Jun 18, 1993FAILEDCapital Bank of California of Los Angeles, CA failed and was closed. No bank took it over; insured depositors were paid directly.FDIC certificate 23183 ends.
- NO SUCCESSOR BANK
The FDIC record ends here. No operating bank carries this charter today.
If you still have something from Desert Empire Bank
A lien that was never released
Commonwealth Bank failed on Sep 25, 1987. 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.
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, Capital Bank of California).
This failure is older than the current federal rule on unclaimed deposits (mid-1993), so different rules apply. Search FDIC unclaimed funds search, search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and ask FDIC Resolution Inquiries at 888-206-4662 what applies to this institution.
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. 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.
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 21229 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.