The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Federal Housing Authority" ...
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Flow of federal cash fed housing scheme. Investigation: Section 8 rent subsidies fuel questionable sales to investors, and poor tenants are left in limbo.
According to the author, "A mortgage broker manipulated a federal housing program meant for the poor to lure investors into a get rich quick scam that left a trail of bankruptcy and evictions." This story is a result of the reporter's eight month investigation. The article also includes a computer-generated map.
Tags: mortgage; broker; housing; federal housing program; map; scam; investors; cash; section 8; poor tenants; tenants
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The Flip Side of Homeownership
According to the author, "A five-month investigation by The Record exposed serious loopholes in local, state and federal housing regulations that thwart the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's goal of neighborhood stabilization of the inner city. The stories document how lax regulations allowed a real estate partnership to buy more than 100 shoddy homes in New Jersey cities, make cosmetic repairs and sell them for 75 to 100 percent profit to first-time homebuyers with taxpayer backed mortgages. Due to this property-flipping scheme, many owners are forced to foreclose because of high repair costs. Because HUD guarantees the mortgages, the federal government ends up paying off the house."
Tags: federal housing; housing regulations; schemes; loopholes; state housing regulations; New Jersey; real estate; mortgages; taxpayers; federal government; HUD; Housing and Urban Development; cities; inner city
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The Third House Rises
National Journal examines "a shadowy arm of Congress," the so-called conference committees whose work is to reconcile competing versions of House and Senate bills. "No rules govern their activities, and once they've made their decision, their legislative handiwork is presented to rank-and-file lawmakers on a take-it-or-leave-it basis," reports the magazine. The story looks at the role that conference committees played in the federal legislative process in recent years. The author points out that, with the coming of the new administration of George W. Bush, conference committees "will become ground zero in battles between the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate."
Tags: GOP; Congress; Senate; Republicans; Democrats; politicians; White House; vetoes; Clinton; Clean Air Act
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The Great Minnow Hunt
"The FBI's 20-month investigation of corruption at the San Francisco Housing Authority seems to have netted one minnow as sharks swam free. Last summer, in what seems to herald the end of a federal investigation of the Housing Authority, a federal jury found a mid-level housing manager guilty of taking bribes to provide subsidized housing certificates to people who were ineligible to receive them. But transcripts of FBI interviews with the prosecution s chief witness, sworn depositions in a whistleblower lawsuit, exhibits in the housing manager's trial, and a HUD inspector general's reporter all suggest that high-ranking city officials and a longtime s associates of Mayor Willie Brown had knowledge of, or were involved in, the bribery conspiracy."
Tags: San Francisco Housing Authority; Human Rights Commission; felony bribery; contracts; favoritism; Scott Company; affirmative action laws; minority-ownership; elibility; federal grants; Section 8; U.S. Attorney General
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South Boston Waterfront Development Deal
A Boston Globe series investigates the financial and political maneuvers behind the construction of a large waterfront development in South Boston. The investigation focuses on a "little-noticed agreement that an unprecedented amount of the financial benefits from the development would go to a trust set up by three powerful politicians..." The reporters reveal that "under this agreement as much as $ 65 million would flow into the trust's coffers from the private developers..." The series shows that "it was inherently unfair - and illegal - to limit the benefits of the development to one neighborhood" and exposes the elected officials' reluctance to follow "federal Fair Housing guidelines mandating that affordable housing be available to all applicants, regardless of race." The investigation also covers a lawsuit against the city government, which has stopped the controversial deal.
Tags: housing; development; community benefits; city council; construction; nonprofit; public funds; minorities; racism; contributions; Boston Redevelopment Authority; Fair Housing Act; zoning; federal court; taxpayers
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The Harlem Shuffle
Investigation into the HUD loan program 203(k) for nonprofit organizations to purchase and fix-up run-down housing for resale. Johnson found a wide-open opportunity for speculators to purchase inexpensive buildings and immediately resell them at inflated prices to nonprofits. The story concludes that the program's flaw is a lack of HUD oversight, which leaves policing to appraisers and mortgage lenders who have few incentives to act responsibly.
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Housing Corruption Scandal
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the country's largest landlord, provides housing for New York City's poorest residents. WWOR-TV's investigation proved the Federal tax dollars that fund maintenance of these housing projects were used, at times, to line the pockets of a few Housing Inspectors. The residents suffer as a result.
Tags: TAPE
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The Money Pit
Federal and local authorities are investigating widespread irregularities in the sale and mortgaging of homes built by New Century Homes and its founder John G. Berg. Berg denies wrongdoing, but many of the estimated 150 people who purchased homes from his company say they didn't get the bargain they were promised. Many are struggling to make payments that are as much as 30 percent higher than they were told to expect. The homes are factory built and of suspect quality. The Daily News investigation showed that Berg and his representatives allegedly: promised federal tax credits they couldn't deliver, funneled cash gifts to new Century buyers in excess of amounts allowed under FHA and conventional mortgage underwriting rules, circumvented state and local realty transfer taxes by filing deeds that did not reflect accurate sale prices, and priced their houses significantly higher than those in surrounding neighborhoods.
Tags: None
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"From the Top, A City that Doesn't Work...
The packet of stories represents part of a year-long focus on misuse of tax funds by city officials and general malfeasance across the government of the District of Columbia. Powell's series shows how government corruption and incompetence cost Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year. This series shows failure to spend approved federal grants, poorly written contracts and city work crews wasting time and doing private work on city time. Thompson and Woodlee focused on smaller numbers, but more audacious abuses by specific officials. The mayor paying police excessive overtime to move his luggage and a Corrections Department supervisor collecting overtime herself and authorizing overtime for city workers repairing her house.
Tags: None
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"A cast of cronies"
Employees call it "the company," and Jim Wiley acts like he owns it. He provides jobs for friends and family members. He directs business to his pals. He and another supervisor use employees to do after-hours work for them. But the King County Housing Authority isn't a company, and Wiley, the executive director, doesn't own it. You do. It's a public agency, one that spends tens of millions in taxpayer money each year and manages holdings of more than $200 million. Its charge is to provide affordable housing for low-income residents of King County. It is, a Seattle Times investigation has found, an agency rife with nepotism, favoritism and deal-making -- an old-time spoils system in an era and region where such examples are few and far between.
Tags: King County Housing Authority; nepotism; federal agencies