Loan Center of California, Inc. v. Krowne, No. FCS029554 (Cal. Super., Solono Co. filed May 7, 2007).

Status: Non-monetary settlement after defendant’s motion to strike (anti-SLAPP motion) denied

The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter (ml-implode.com), a blog run by Aaron Krowne which tracks mortgage finance companies that are in financial trouble, posted the contents of an anonymous e-mail sent to the site alleging that Loan Center of California was having financial problems. (The e-mail contents were also posted on the AutoDogmatic blog (www.autodogmatic.com), run by a friend of Krowne’s.) Krowne removed the post the same day after Loan Center of California complained, but the company still filed suit. Krowne’s motion to have the suit struck under California’s anti-SLAPP statute was denied on Sept. 7, 2007; the case was settled two months later.

Links and Court Documents:

http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/wp-print.php?year=2007&monthnum=08&day=08&name=mortgage-implode-o-suit

http://www.thereporter.com/ci_6638254

http://ml-implode.com/viewnews/2007-07-26_JudgeFranklinRTaftDeniesMlImplodeMotionToStrikeviaAntiSLAPP.html (denial of motion to strike; includes documents)

http://ml-implode.com/viewnews/2007-07-05_LoanCenterofCaliforniaSuesMortgageLenderImplodeOMeterMotiontoStr.html (complaint; includes documents)

Case information and documents: http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/loan-center-california-v-krowne

Complaint: http://ml-implode.com/lcc_suit/complaint.pdf

Docket available via http://courtconnect.solanocourts.com

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