The Federal Home Loan Bank Board today announced a record $1.35 billion cash payout to shut down two insolvent savings institutions in Costa Mesa, Calif. The bank board, which regulates 3,150 S&Ls, said it will begin on Tuesday to pay off deposits up to the insurance limit of $100,000 in the North America Savings and Loan Association and the American Diversified Savings Bank. M. Danny Wall, bank board chairman, said it was the largest cash payout ever for the agency. It is paying $1.14 billion from the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. to American Diversified depositers and $209 million to North America depositers. After recovering some of its costs by selling the institutions' assets, the bank board expects ultimately to spend $931 million _ $798 million for American Diversified and $133 million for North America. Depositers who had funds above the insurance limit will share in the liquidation proceeds. Both institutions share the same headquarters and have been insolvent for some time. Prior to the closing in Costa Mesa, the largest payout was $300 million in 1984 to close the Empire Savings and Loan of Mesquite, Texas. However, bank board officials expect the cost of several previous bailout packages eventually to be higher than the cost of closing the two thrifts in Costa Mesa. Last month, the bank board said it was paying $2 billion in assistance _ in the form of notes and guarantees, none of it in cash _ to the Southwest Savings Association in Dallas to take over four ailing institutions. In November, it announced a $1.3 billion bailout of Vernon Savings and Loan in Dallas, $200 million of it in cash. The rest of the assistance came in the form of notes. Wall said the bank board prefers to pay a healthier institution to take over insolvent thrifts because it is cheaper for the insurance fund. But in this case, he said the two S&Ls had little value as going concerns because they lacked retail deposits and branch offices. Instead, they relied on high-cost, short-term deposits arranged through brokers. Wall hailed today's closings as the opening of a second front in the board's drive to remove institutions that have been driving up the cost of funds for all institutions. The first front is Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, which have the largest concentration of ailing thrifts. In order to attract money, North America had to offer an average deposit rate of 8.53 percent, 1.45 percentage points above the average for all thrift institutions. American Diversified was paying 8.64 percent, 1.56 percentage points higher than the average. ``So today we march forward in our drive to remove from the marketplace those high-rate-paying insolvent thrifts,'' Wall said in a statement. The bank board attributed the failure of North America, which was chartered in 1983, to ``unsafe and unsound'' business practices. It said the association grew rapidly by aggressively soliciting high-cost jumbo certificates of deposit that were then invested in high-risk real estate loan participations and time-sharing investments. It had been in the bank board's management consignment program since January 1987. A month after that, the insurance fund sued Janet McKenzie, executive assistant to the chairman, for $40 million. As of March 31, North America had $98.2 miilion in assets and $215.7 million in liabilities. It was losing an estimated $1.59 million a month. American Diversified, orginally chartered in 1980 as Tokay Savings and Loan Association, had been in the management consignment program since February 1986. FSLIC has filed suit against Ranhir Sahni, who in 1983 led the association into what it called an ``explosive growth policy.'' It is seeking $60 million, charging fraud, negligence and racketeering. As of March 31, American Diversified had $509 million in assets and $1.12 billion in liabilities. It was losing an estimated $8.3 million a month. Depositers may present their claims either in person through June 24 or by mail. The bank board said depositors will receive the necessary forms in the mail. Questions can be directed to FSLIC at 1-800-347-6660. More than 500 of the nation's federally insured savings institutions are insolvent. The bank board says it is too soon to tell if it has enough money to resolve the cases of all 500, but it says it has enough to resolve the 200 worst cases. Last year Congress authorized the board to raise up to $10.8 billion by selling bonds over the next three years, providing the agency with total revenue of about $20 billion. However, the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigating arm, estimates the cost of the cleanup at $26 billion to $36 billion. Some private analysts estimate the price tag at more than $50 billion.
