FDIC takes over Hometown Community Bank

Hometown Community Bank, Braselton, was taken over Friday by the FDIC and will be acquired by CertusBanks of Easley, South Carolina. HTCB has two branches in Braselton and has been struggling for months following the housing crisis in 2008. Several other local banks have also been taken over by the FDIC following the crisis, including Freedom Bank of Commerce, the Peoples Bank of Winder, Piedmont Bank of Winder, and Community Bank & Trust which has branches in both Jackson and Barrow counties.

DEPOSITS

According to information from the Georgia Department of Banking, all deposit accounts of Hometown Community Bank have been transferred to CertusBank, National Association and will be available immediately. Depositors will be able to access their accounts at the former main office and branch location of Hometown Community Bank during regular business hours. Customers of both banks should continue to use their existing branches until CertusBank, National Association can fully integrate the deposit records of Hometown Community Bank. Additionally, the former depositors of Hometown Community Bank can continue to access their accounts through automated teller machine transactions, checks and debit transactions.

All deposits will be transferred to CertusBank, National Association and, therefore, it is not anticipated that there will be any loss exposure to former Hometown Community Bank depositors that have deposits exceeding the FDIC Deposit Insurance amounts.

The Department’s Commissioner, Robert M. Braswell, reminds depositors that deposits of all Georgia banks are insured by the FDIC up to $250,000. Special rules are in place for accounts held in trust status and joint accounts that may further expand deposit insurance coverage. Additional information on FDIC Deposit Insurance may be found at www.fdic.gov.

The FDIC has established a website and a toll-free phone number to answer questions from depositors, creditors and other interested parties regarding the receivership of Hometown Community Bank. Please refer to the FDIC’s website for further information regarding the details of the purchase and assumption transaction. The website is http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/hometown.html and the toll-free phone number is 1-800-830-4725. The phone number is operational this evening until 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., on Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

HTCB directors are John Buchanan, Vir Nanda, Dr. Terry Elrod, Tom Kitchin, Martha Martin and Monk Tolbert.