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 "Mortgage Acceptance" ...
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Broken Dreams
This story utilized HMDA data, foreclosure reports and experts to explain how a wave of unstable mortgage loans were causing increasing numbers of uninformed borrowers to lose their homes. The investigation illustrated the problems faced by many people who, being unfamiliar with buying a home, ended up accepting very harsh terms on their loans and mortgages. Experts predict that this situation will lead to a rise in forclosures in the area.
Tags: housing market; mortgage; real estate; HMDA; foreclosure; Excel
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Oh, Give Me Your Home
Pitch Weekly investigates the hidden scams landlords place on tenants when they offer contract for deeds on rental properties. The philosophy of the landlord- "buy low, rent as high as possible, don't spend a dime on repairs, then bail out before the place falls down." In 1995, the government signed into law a rental-licensing program. "It requires landlords to register properties, pay a modest fee and most important- submit rentals to annual inspections. . . But the landlords figured out a way around it. They started 'selling' their properties on contract for deed-sort of a homemade mortgage program in which the owner, not a commercial lender, accepts payment for the property over a drawn-out period." Pitch Weekly reports how often buyers get the raw-end of the deal.
Tags: housing; rentals; landlords; contract for deed; leasing; Unified Government; home-buyers; Kansas Consumer Protection Act; city inspections; real-estate
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Cheated Out of House and Home
Phoenix Magazine tells the story of an "Arizona's "Erin Brokovich," who "represents herself without any legal training" in a still pending case. The report describes how "in a desperate struggle to reclaim her century-old bungalow, Lauren LaBarre is suing the bank she claims defrauded her into foreclosure." The story reveals that the mortgage company refused to accept LaBarre's money, thus forcing her into foreclosure. The report also details how the bank was "blaming LaBarre for its own mistakes - the typographical error and the payments they'd lost." The author draws the conclusion that this might happen to "anyone who's paying a mortgage and is late on a payment now and then."
Tags: courts; bankruptcy; law; attorneys; courts; judges; housing; GMAC mortgage Co.; FHA; loans
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Dream merchants
This Asbury Park Press series investigates real estate deals done by Thomas Fauntleroy and a group of associates in depressed areas of Monmouth County, NJ. They sold these homes to minority buyers for a lot more than what they paid and also directed them to get mortages from Fauntleroy's brother. The homes were not only overpriced but the value of them was less than the loan amounts approved for buyers. There were numerous Federal Housing Association violations including FHA-insured loans to Fauntleroy and associates.
Tags: investment properties; deed and mortgage records; Mortgage Acceptance
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Behind the figures: Federal data detail pervasive racial gap in mortgage lending
Wall Street Journal reports that race is a factor in whether banks accept a person's mortgage application, finding blacks are twice as likely to have their application turned down than are whites.
Tags: mortgage lending; banks; discrimination; racial disparities