The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter on clarkhoward.com

The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter is a popular website developed by former Emory University research Aaron Krowne. This unique portal monitors the overall health of lenders so that you know if they're safe to do business with.

Clark particularly loves the site's slogan -- "Tracking the housing finance breakdown: a saga of corruption, hypocrisy, and government complicity" -- because he believes those words ring very true.

We're still in the early innings of the corruption shakedown. More banks will likely fail; there will be continued credit problems for several years; and more bailouts of institutions deemed "Too Big To Fail" will come courtesy of taxpayers.

This last point really rankles Clark. When we bailed out Bear Stearns with $30 billion in guarantees, we taxpayers should have become owners of the company -- but that's not what happened.

Meanwhile, we indirectly feel the effects of the mortgage crisis whenever we fuel up at the pump. Over the last several months, Clark has explained how the Federal Reserve devalued the dollar to help out Wall Street bigs and their idiotic lending practices in the housing sector. Because of that devaluation, the price of a barrel of oil is nearly double and the price of gas is some 60% higher.

More lenders and banks likely will fail. So now is the time to heed FDIC limits (or NCUA limits, if you're with a credit union) and not exceed $100,000 in the bank. Clark would prefer that you stick closer to $90,000. That way you won't lose one penny of interest in the event of a collapse.

If you are over the $100,000 limit, reduce your exposure by having multiple accounts at different banks. You can also use the CDARS.com program to do it for you.

What others are saying

brokerage firms for mortages
I recently was wood by a firm who in Feb 09 told me that I would be able to refinance my home. I am still gettin excuses and it the seond week in April .we'll know when we're goning to close next week is the answer I keep getting. Is there any one that regulates these perople or someone that I can complain to so others won't be fooled . The company I have been dealing with is American Mortgage Specialist in Az. I would appreciate any information you could forward.
By Janice BOwman @ 04/10/09 11:08:50 AMreport abuse
Bank foreclosures
I followed the links to Implode-0-meter. I appreciate the information, but would like to see something similar for banks.
By Richard Gregory @ 08/24/08 08:33:41 PMreport abuse
Mortgage Crisis
In addition to all the other reasons, Wall Street discovered they could get 13 percent return in a 4 percent market if they marketed their mortgage products in such a fashion that the consumer would be hoodwinked to believe they could refinance at a fixed rate after several months of on time payments. Even with on time payments the better credit tatting never happened. Somthings wrong with Wall Street and let's not Fair Issac (Not) either.
By R. Westbrook @ 07/31/08 11:43:49 PMreport abuse
mortgage crisis?
The underlying crisis is not bogus bank behavior, although that is bad and try explaining that to someone who's been foreclosed.
The ultimate crisis involves the shadow economy of over-the-counter-derivatives, which at the last quarterly estimate of the Bank of International Settlements in Switzerland, which monitors such transactions, is five hundred and sixteen trillion dollars of notional value. These derivatives are traded, unregulated, back channel between banks, hedge fund investors, pension funds, even nations, and comprise debt structures of credit swaps, REIT's, hedge fund options, interest rate swaps, commodities options, forward rate agreements, etc. See BIS/Statistics/Derivatives on the BIS website.
Many of these debt structures are so complex--an investment bank writes an option on a credit swap, which is bundled into an option fund, which share s are sold to, say, pension fund investors, who in turn might write an option on the shares of that fund, which is then sold as an asset to a hedge fund that has no direct relationship to the original credit swappers, but is nonetheless exposed, via counter party risk, to any link in the chain's failure to meet its obligations--that it takes a special math called stochastic math to figure out if the investor has made or lost money.
This strikes me as fast and loose betting with sums so enormous that the entire world economy--about 75 trillion GDP-- will not be able to cover the bets should even a quarter of this transactional house of cards come down.
And the notion that the FED has committed itself to bailing out investment banks--this before the Fannie and Freddie May debacle--is severely disquieting, not to say foolhardy. How can the US taxpayer cover the bets of the world?
What's needed is to back off this kind of trading slowly, until the total notional value reaches a manageable multiple of all the actual wealth--say 200 trillion--and contrive through regulation to have it stay there. Anything else is madness.
By Jeff MacKenzie @ 07/29/08 02:05:42 AMreport abuse
The Fed is the problem
The Fed should be abolished IMMEDIATELY!! The are a major source of our problems. They are a privatly owned entity and we cannot even find out exactly who the major shareholders are, yet they are driving inflation to insanity. There should be outrage in the streets over this economic travesty.
By Tom @ 07/28/08 10:34:32 PMreport abuse
house buying
i am going to be getting 50,000 from devorce settlement and want to buy a house should i wait and if i do where do i hide the money til i buy a house
By john french @ 07/28/08 08:30:31 PMreport abuse
access to list of possible mortgage lender failures
I fail to understand why present mortgage or future mortgage holders need to know whether or not a particular lender is on the verge of going broke. Assuming the loan process has been signed, sealed and delivered..and then the lender goes bust. So what? Fanny May
has a legal obligation to secure another lender at the identical terms used by the busted lender.
By Ed Robinson @ 07/28/08 03:17:41 PMreport abuse
FDIC Limits
With Jumbo CD's [$100K] I have the bank mail Me the interest every month. This way, My exposure is limited to just 1 month's interest in the event of a Failure.
By John W. Moore III @ 07/28/08 03:13:33 PMreport abuse
FDIC Insurance
Single owner accounts are protected to $100,000 per bank. Joint accounts are protected to $200,000 per bank. IRA accounts are protected to $250,000 per bank. Vanguard is not a bank, assets there are not FDIC protected. Assets at most brokerage houses are protected to 100% as the broker has Securities Investor protection corporation (SIPC)and supplemental insurance. Check with your broker to determine if they have supplemental insurance (Fidelity has 100% covered). Money market funds are not protected from investment losses.
By Bob Morrison @ 07/28/08 02:42:35 PMreport abuse
The Mortage Mess
Thank you Clark for bringing some sanity to the discussion. To Listen to Neal you would think this the only people at fault in this mess are the stupid people who let the banks buy mor house than they could afford or those who purposely set out to defraud the banks.
I live on a fixed income and work Part time in order to pay my bills. I don't like this situation anymore than anyone else. However I don't want to see the value of my home eroded because it is surrounded by foreclosures or section 8 housing.
I believe that the banks knew that they would be bailed out in the end.so they didn't care who they approved.
On a whim I applied for refinancing to see what I would be offered. Bottom line I was offered a half percent decrese in interest rate so that I would walk away with $15,000 cash and lose 15years of equity in my home. I was smart enough to say that's crazy! Unfortunately many poor people like me would jump at the deal then lose their home in the end.
I love the show Thanks for all you do
I have learned so much from listening to you over the years. Keep up the good work

Linda Felix
Stone Mountain, GA
By Lindafelix511@hotmail.com @ 07/28/08 02:37:27 PMreport abuse
economy
Those who think the president is to blame or credit for the economy, either has a political agenda, dosen't understand how our system works, or just dosen't live in the real world.
By Bill K. @ 07/28/08 02:00:02 PMreport abuse
Deposits may be insured for more than $100K...
I would recommend that Clark give all the facts before recommending listeners to pull all money out of a financial over $90k. There are instances where your money is insured over $100K.

I recommend calling 1-800-ASK-FDIC - they can clarify the rules on FDIC coverage. Or go to:

http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/Deposits/insured/ownership.html
By Banker @ 07/17/08 05:24:05 PMreport abuse
Indymac mortgage
We have a mortgage with Indymac and were in the final stages (waiting on appraisal) to refinance when bank takeover happened. Indymac tells us that it's "business as usual." Should we be concerned about refinancing with them? Thank you for all your help.
By janice @ 07/17/08 03:15:22 PMreport abuse
Economy and the Presidency
Those who think the president is not to blame for the economy lack even a basic understanding of macroeconomics.
By PJ @ 07/17/08 07:06:27 AMreport abuse
Our Economy and the Presidency (What a Joke Once Again)
Sounds like Clark Howard is a Ron Paul Fan, the only person that was running on the Republican ticket that challenged the Status Quo and brought real honest facts of our countries history and current events to the debate table. Ron Paul has been talking about our monetary and foreign policies for quite some time now. Do not let McCain or Obama fool you for one minute that they know what they stand for on the serious issues that directly effect the people, not them, the people! Our Country is Going Broke!
By Evan Lathouse @ 07/16/08 03:53:37 PMreport abuse
not over 100,000. at one bank
Does this mean I should not have more than
100,000. with VanGuard. Is Vanguard considered a bank? I have several Index Funds with them totaling over 300K which is 90% of my portfolio and I am living on the interest (haha) and SS. I am very old like 89.
No one fund with VG is over 60K and I have 5 funds with them.
Thanks ahead of time,
Marty
By Marty @ 07/16/08 03:42:57 PMreport abuse
cash at brokerage firms
what is the level of protection for money mkt accounts held at smith barney or raymond james?
By tom @ 07/16/08 12:25:44 PMreport abuse
more than 100.000 in account
I have 195.000 in a Wavovia acct. but it is a joint acct. with my wife. The bank says I am protected to 200.000 is this true?
By Randy Powell @ 07/16/08 10:13:34 AMreport abuse

brokerage firms for mortages

I recently was wood by a firm who in Feb 09 told me that I would be able to refinance my home. I am still gettin excuses and it the seond week in April .we'll know when we're goning to close next week is the answer I keep getting. Is there any one that regulates these perople or someone that I can complain to so others won't be fooled . The company I have been dealing with is American Mortgage Specialist in Az. I would appreciate any information you could forward.

By Janice BOwman @ 04/10/09 11:08:50 AMreport abuse

Bank foreclosures

I followed the links to Implode-0-meter. I appreciate the information, but would like to see something similar for banks.

By Richard Gregory @ 08/24/08 08:33:41 PMreport abuse

Mortgage Crisis

In addition to all the other reasons, Wall Street discovered they could get 13 percent return in a 4 percent market if they marketed their mortgage products in such a fashion that the consumer would be hoodwinked to believe they could refinance at a fixed rate after several months of on time payments. Even with on time payments the better credit tatting never happened. Somthings wrong with Wall Street and let's not Fair Issac (Not) either.

By R. Westbrook @ 07/31/08 11:43:49 PMreport abuse

mortgage crisis?

The underlying crisis is not bogus bank behavior, although that is bad and try explaining that to someone who's been foreclosed.
The ultimate crisis involves the shadow economy of over-the-counter-derivatives, which at the last quarterly estimate of the Bank of International Settlements in Switzerland, which monitors such transactions, is five hundred and sixteen trillion dollars of notional value. These derivatives are traded, unregulated, back channel between banks, hedge fund investors, pension funds, even nations, and comprise debt structures of credit swaps, REIT's, hedge fund options, interest rate swaps, commodities options, forward rate agreements, etc. See BIS/Statistics/Derivatives on the BIS website.
Many of these debt structures are so complex--an investment bank writes an option on a credit swap, which is bundled into an option fund, which share s are sold to, say, pension fund investors, who in turn might write an option on the shares of that fund, which is then sold as an asset to a hedge fund that has no direct relationship to the original credit swappers, but is nonetheless exposed, via counter party risk, to any link in the chain's failure to meet its obligations--that it takes a special math called stochastic math to figure out if the investor has made or lost money.
This strikes me as fast and loose betting with sums so enormous that the entire world economy--about 75 trillion GDP-- will not be able to cover the bets should even a quarter of this transactional house of cards come down.
And the notion that the FED has committed itself to bailing out investment banks--this before the Fannie and Freddie May debacle--is severely disquieting, not to say foolhardy. How can the US taxpayer cover the bets of the world?
What's needed is to back off this kind of trading slowly, until the total notional value reaches a manageable multiple of all the actual wealth--say 200 trillion--and contrive through regulation to have it stay there. Anything else is madness.

By Jeff MacKenzie @ 07/29/08 02:05:42 AMreport abuse

The Fed is the problem

The Fed should be abolished IMMEDIATELY!! The are a major source of our problems. They are a privatly owned entity and we cannot even find out exactly who the major shareholders are, yet they are driving inflation to insanity. There should be outrage in the streets over this economic travesty.

By Tom @ 07/28/08 10:34:32 PMreport abuse

house buying

i am going to be getting 50,000 from devorce settlement and want to buy a house should i wait and if i do where do i hide the money til i buy a house

By john french @ 07/28/08 08:30:31 PMreport abuse

access to list of possible mortgage lender failures

I fail to understand why present mortgage or future mortgage holders need to know whether or not a particular lender is on the verge of going broke. Assuming the loan process has been signed, sealed and delivered..and then the lender goes bust. So what? Fanny May
has a legal obligation to secure another lender at the identical terms used by the busted lender.

By Ed Robinson @ 07/28/08 03:17:41 PMreport abuse

FDIC Limits

With Jumbo CD's [$100K] I have the bank mail Me the interest every month. This way, My exposure is limited to just 1 month's interest in the event of a Failure.

By John W. Moore III @ 07/28/08 03:13:33 PMreport abuse

FDIC Insurance

Single owner accounts are protected to $100,000 per bank. Joint accounts are protected to $200,000 per bank. IRA accounts are protected to $250,000 per bank. Vanguard is not a bank, assets there are not FDIC protected. Assets at most brokerage houses are protected to 100% as the broker has Securities Investor protection corporation (SIPC)and supplemental insurance. Check with your broker to determine if they have supplemental insurance (Fidelity has 100% covered). Money market funds are not protected from investment losses.

By Bob Morrison @ 07/28/08 02:42:35 PMreport abuse

The Mortage Mess

Thank you Clark for bringing some sanity to the discussion. To Listen to Neal you would think this the only people at fault in this mess are the stupid people who let the banks buy mor house than they could afford or those who purposely set out to defraud the banks.
I live on a fixed income and work Part time in order to pay my bills. I don't like this situation anymore than anyone else. However I don't want to see the value of my home eroded because it is surrounded by foreclosures or section 8 housing.
I believe that the banks knew that they would be bailed out in the end.so they didn't care who they approved.
On a whim I applied for refinancing to see what I would be offered. Bottom line I was offered a half percent decrese in interest rate so that I would walk away with $15,000 cash and lose 15years of equity in my home. I was smart enough to say that's crazy! Unfortunately many poor people like me would jump at the deal then lose their home in the end.
I love the show Thanks for all you do
I have learned so much from listening to you over the years. Keep up the good work

Linda Felix
Stone Mountain, GA

By Lindafelix511@hotmail.com @ 07/28/08 02:37:27 PMreport abuse

economy

Those who think the president is to blame or credit for the economy, either has a political agenda, dosen't understand how our system works, or just dosen't live in the real world.

By Bill K. @ 07/28/08 02:00:02 PMreport abuse

Deposits may be insured for more than $100K...

I would recommend that Clark give all the facts before recommending listeners to pull all money out of a financial over $90k. There are instances where your money is insured over $100K.

I recommend calling 1-800-ASK-FDIC - they can clarify the rules on FDIC coverage. Or go to:

http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/Deposits/insured/ownership.html

By Banker @ 07/17/08 05:24:05 PMreport abuse

Indymac mortgage

We have a mortgage with Indymac and were in the final stages (waiting on appraisal) to refinance when bank takeover happened. Indymac tells us that it's "business as usual." Should we be concerned about refinancing with them? Thank you for all your help.

By janice @ 07/17/08 03:15:22 PMreport abuse

Economy and the Presidency

Those who think the president is not to blame for the economy lack even a basic understanding of macroeconomics.

By PJ @ 07/17/08 07:06:27 AMreport abuse

Our Economy and the Presidency (What a Joke Once Again)

Sounds like Clark Howard is a Ron Paul Fan, the only person that was running on the Republican ticket that challenged the Status Quo and brought real honest facts of our countries history and current events to the debate table. Ron Paul has been talking about our monetary and foreign policies for quite some time now. Do not let McCain or Obama fool you for one minute that they know what they stand for on the serious issues that directly effect the people, not them, the people! Our Country is Going Broke!

By Evan Lathouse @ 07/16/08 03:53:37 PMreport abuse

not over 100,000. at one bank

Does this mean I should not have more than
100,000. with VanGuard. Is Vanguard considered a bank? I have several Index Funds with them totaling over 300K which is 90% of my portfolio and I am living on the interest (haha) and SS. I am very old like 89.
No one fund with VG is over 60K and I have 5 funds with them.
Thanks ahead of time,
Marty

By Marty @ 07/16/08 03:42:57 PMreport abuse

cash at brokerage firms

what is the level of protection for money mkt accounts held at smith barney or raymond james?

By tom @ 07/16/08 12:25:44 PMreport abuse

more than 100.000 in account

I have 195.000 in a Wavovia acct. but it is a joint acct. with my wife. The bank says I am protected to 200.000 is this true?

By Randy Powell @ 07/16/08 10:13:34 AMreport abuse

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Jul 15, 2008 -- The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter

What others are saying