If you haven’t heard, Washington Mutual (WaMu) is the latest and biggest bank to fail.  The had put themselves on the block last week, but many industry folks had been waiting for them to fail for months.  They have been carrying a LOT of bad debt and debt that looked like it would go belly up.  They had a HUGE percentage of mortgages that were sub-prime, escalating and/or negative amortization… as well as Adjustable. 

The bottom line is that it was only a matter of time.

So, let’s say that you have accounts with WaMu… Personally, my mortgage is/was there.  The bad news is that it doesn’t just go away.  The good news is that you don’t really have to do much.  Make your payments as usual… you should get a notice in the next couple of weeks for a new address to which to send your payment.  JP Morgan/Chase has purchased the accounts of WaMu.

If you have a deposit account (checking/savings), things should move along as usual… and you will get new ATM cards, as well as other materials you would need.  ATM cards and credit cards should work as usual… but do have a back-up plan.

Your money is safe there.  The FDIC is back-stopping them, and JPM/Chase can’t walk away with your money.  The least advisable thing to do is “run on” the bank, demanding your money back.  They would be able to pay it, but it would only frustrate you and them.