WaMu Failure Shakes Seattle, From Shareholder to Job Seeker

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Sally Rawlings was one of the last people to buy shares in Washington Mutual Inc., showing faith that her hometown Seattle savings and loan would be able to weather its financial crisis.

``That was a mistake,'' she said of the purchase she made two days ago. ``I went to the symphony, and when I came out it had been seized and sold.''

She was among customers, workers and local residents stunned by the fate of the 119-year-old thrift, even after it put itself up for sale last week with an estimated $19 billion in losses on soured mortgage loans. WaMu was seized by federal regulators Sept. 25 and sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

``I was just walking by and saw the newspaper headlines and thought, `Whoa, that's my bank, I should check on my money,''' Amina Abdulle said after visiting a WaMu branch. ``The lady assured me nothing will change -- just the name.''