Implode-O-Meter - Death Watch for Mortgage Lenders

The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter is a one-and-a-half-year-old mortgage website, maintained by a small company of only about 10 employees. What the Implode-O-Meter has been doing and how influential it has become, however, has threatened mortgage lenders quite a bit. With a brassy half-jesting tone, the website has reported and consistently updated lists of mortgage companies that have imploded or are merely ailing. This morning (July 16, 08), the total number on the imploded mortgage lender list is 266 while the total count on the ailing list is 17. Not surprisingly, at a recent Mortgage Bankers Association conference, one of the main topics they discussed was how to keep their companies' names off this website.

A few years ago, as the economy boomed, a lot of mortgage lenders played it soft and approved home loans for high-risk borrowers. Some of the companies even requested no down payment, but only cursory glances of paychecks. Aaron Krowne, the founder of the Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter, however, foresaw that the housing market and mortgage industry would probably worsen and collapse. That's why he created the Implode-O-Meter website. And it turned out he was right. Today, as the mortgage interest rates keep soaring and monthly payments are readjusted higher, both home owners and mortgage lenders find themselves in deep trouble. In a Mortgage Bankers Association conference last year, it was reported that 17.9 % of subprime mortgages were either past due or in default.

As the mortgage industry continues going downhill, the traffic on the Implode-O-Meter site goes on rising. Having as many as 100,000 regular visitors a day, the Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter has become one of the main online sources for people to track mortgage companies' failure and frailty. Louise Story of the New York Times calls this website "the latest iteration of online death-watch lists."

As for the reliability of the Implode-O-Meter, Krowne makes it clear on his website that the information the site receives and publishes comes from 3 sourecs: communication from the mortgage companies themselves, mainstream press coverage and tips from individuals. Some critics, nonetheless, point out that some of the "tips from individuals" are unsubstantiated gossip rather than truths. To deny such comment and prove their own credibility, the Implode-O-Meter often posts the mortgage companies' emails and phone recordings to back up their arguments.

The shocking news that Michael Jackson struggled against foreclosure on his Neverland property was one of the most famous articles on the Implode-O-Meter last year. Jackson's representatives, of course, denied the story. But Krowne would not let the matter go that easily. To prove the truthfulness of his information, he posted the notice of Jackson's defaults.

Fame and fortune often come with expenses. As advertising dollars flood in, the Implode-O-Meter wesite also has to face a few lawsuits from mortgage lenders who refuse to bite the dust. Krowne, according to the American Banker journal, said that these lawsuits are "frivolous and malicious" attempts to shut down his site. The Implode-O-Meter, Krowne stated, has been an adventurous work that beats out the mainstream media time and again.