FORM 4		UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Expires: February 28, 2011 Estimated average burden hours per response 0.5
	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* RINEHART CHARLES R (Last) (First) (Middle) 3501 JAMBOREE ROAD (Street) NEWPORT BEACH CA 92660 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol DOWNEY FINANCIAL CORP [DSL]	5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) X Director 10% Owner X Officer (give title below) Other (specify below) Chief Executive Officer
	3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 09/16/2008
	4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
Common Stock	09/16/2008		A		1,226,994	A	$ 0	1,226,994	D

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)

2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security

3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)

3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)

4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)

5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4, and 5)

6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)

7. Title and Amount of Underlying Securities (Instr. 3 and 4)

8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)

9. Number of Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)

10. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)

11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)

Code

V

(A)

(D)

Date Exercisable

Expiration Date

Title

Amount or Number of Shares

Explanation of Responses:

	Shannon Monahan, Attorney-in-fact	09/29/2008
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number.

EX-24

POWER OF ATTORNEY I hereby appoint each of Richard Swinney, C. Miguel Moreno and Shannon Monahan, or any of them signing singly, and with full power of substitution, as my attorney-in-fact to: (1) prepare, execute in my name and on my behalf, and submit to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") a Form ID, including amendments thereto, and any other documents necessary or appropriate to obtain codes and passwords enabling me to make electronic filings with the SEC of reports required by Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or any rule or regulation of the SEC; (2) execute for and on behalf of me, in my capacity as an officer and/or director of Downey Financial Corp. ("Downey"), Forms 3, 4, and 5 in accordance with Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules thereunder; (3) do and perform all acts for and on my behalf to complete and execute any such Form 3, 4 or 5, complete and execute any amendment or amendments thereto, and timely file such form with the SEC and any stock exchange or similar authority; and (4) take any other action in connection with the foregoing which, in the opinion of such attorney-in-fact, may be of benefit to, in the best interest of, or legally required by me, it being understood that the documents executed by such attorney-in-fact pursuant to this Power of Attorney shall be in such form and shall contain such terms and conditions as such attorney-in-fact may approve in such attorney-in-fact's discretion. I acknowledge that the foregoing attorneys-in-fact are not assuming, nor is Downey assuming, any of my responsibilities to comply with Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This Power of Attorney shall remain in full force and effect until I am no longer required to file Forms 3, 4 and 5 with respect to my holdings of and transactions in securities issued by Downey, unless earlier revoked by me in a signed writing delivered to the foregoing attorneys-in-fact. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I executed this Power of Attorney on September 24, 2008. Signature: s/ Charles R. Rinehart Print Name: Charles R. Rinehart