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 "condos" ...
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Chicago Takes on Bad Developers, With Mixed Results
Some Chicago neighborhoods face a troubling conundrum. Thousands of condominiums that were built during the "housing boom" are "proving to be poorly built." Leaks and electrical issues are only a couple of the problems homeowners are facing. In an effort to help the homeowners, the city of Chicago filed lawsuits against the condo developers. The effort has backfired. Many developers have fled the country, which leaves the homeowners with thousands of dollars in repairs that are needed to fix the code violations.
Tags: condos; construction; lawsuits; Chicago; builders; developers; West Wabansia; Bucktown; Bad Developer Task Force; code violation
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Maxwell Street: The New Moneymakers
This series spotlights the redevelopment of Chicago’s Maxwell Street Market and found a number of surprising details. These details reveal that the housing available for the poor, the poor are unable to afford and most of the housing goes to those who are well-connected and well-off. Also, with help from City Hall, the developers with political connections end up making large profits.
Tags: Mayor Daley; property tax; condos; real estate; homes; University Village; property; city officials; taxpayers; market
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Moldy Metropolis: Homeowners Struggle with Leaky Concrete
Poorly built condominiums and the homeowners are now seeing the consequences of the poor construction. The condominiums have severe mold problems, which is a result from using a material called split-free concrete block. The story reveals the lack of building inspection since the blocks should be built without leaks and inspected for leaks. Furthermore, if the homeowners complain to the city, they are held accountable for the code violation.
Tags: masonry; developer; real estate; market; condos; water; housing boom; ordinance; city council
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An Educated Guest: Parents purchase homes for kids at college to save on costly campus housing
Many college students and their parents are saving money on room and board. To do this, they are buying off-campus houses and condos for the students to live in. Many might think this is more expensive, but the answer is it's less expensive than on-campus housing. It is less expensive because after buying these houses and condos, they can sell them and receive a profit off the sale instead of wasting money and never receiving a return.
Tags: education; students; living expenses; college; saving; dorms; roommates; costs; real estate; housing market; foreclosure
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A Staggering Swindle
A real estate scam involving rented identities to purchase properties could cost the U.S. taxpayers millions. 81 bogus condos face foreclosure thanks to the scam artist Jim McConville.
Tags: real estate; condos; McConville; boom; mortgage; foreclosure; scam; San Diego;
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The Fall of Ohio's Attorney General
While top state officials from Elliot Spitzer to Rod Blagojevich fell from grace in 2008, no one was pushed out the door through dogged reporting by the press -- in this case, The Columbus Dispatch -- quite like Ohio's attorney general, Marc Dann. Information from a variety of sources and examination of voluminous e-mails and documents led to stories detailing sexual harassment and a shockingly unprofessional, party-like atmosphere of high-ranking Dann officials, including ribald festivities at the so-called "Dannimal House," the condo where he lived along with a pair of top aides. The Dispatch also broke stories about other misdeeds ranging from questionable campaign expenditures, shaky hiring practices and suspect purchases, as well as a proposed trip by Dann to a "law enforcement conference" in Turkey with his female scheduler. Although her trip, bankrolled by homeland security money, was nixed, the paper documented how Dann called her (on the taxpayers' dime via satellite phone) more often than his wife. Dann, 45, later admitted an affair with the scheduler, 28.
Tags: misconduct; attorney general; Ohio; Marc Dann; resignation; sexual harassment; campaign finance
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The Real Estate Meltdown
"Did Appraisers Juice the Market?" showed how appraisers overstated home values. Using disciplinary records and interviews, Shanklin and McClure found appraisers who exaggerated condo sizes, appraised homes without seeing them and stated that condos were worth the $240,000 sales price even though the price was padded with $40,000 of incentives. The "Subprime Mess" package was based on more than 2 million records and showed how unconventional loans moved from low-income, inner city neighborhoods to the burgeoning suburbs. "How Investors Helped Overheat the Market" explored the role of investors in Central Florida's real estate meltdown by analyzing hundreds of data records and found that sales of non owner-occupied homes grew from 25 percent of all local residential sales in 2002 to 70 percent in 2006.
Tags: real estate; investors; lenders; purchase prices; subprime loans; adjustable-rate loans; high-interest loans; housing scam; vacant housing; condo conversion; development; property values
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Ohio Attorney General: Price of Corruption
WBNS-TV (Columbus, Ohio) revealed a pattern of corruption inside the state's highest law enforcement office including cronyism, misuse of state funds and property, improper use of campaign funds, ethics violations and cover-up. The reporters found that the Attorney General had used campaign funds to rent a condominium for two of his friends/employees that was later tied to sexual harassment,alleged crimes involving state vehicles and the hub for cronyism. Their reporting revealed that the Attorney General created a "transition fund" as an unregulated 501 c4 non-profit account. Through law enforcement, the station learned that this fund funneled at least $2,000 in inappropriate payments to the Attorney General's friend/employee/condo-mate.
Tags: Ohio Attorney General's Office; corruption; 501 c4 non-profit; cronyism; abuse of public funds; misappropriation of funds; abuse of power
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Dumping Grounds?; Just Moving On; Six More Years
"The Chicago Housing Authority will spend $1.6 billion on its 'Plan for Transformation'- a 10-year urban reform plan to destroy and tear-down more than 38,000 units of high-rise public housing and rebuild vibrant condo-style mixed-income housing in its place. Yet seven years into the plan, the authority has only built 1,600 replacement units of a promised 6,000 in mixed-income condos."
Tags: relocation; regulation; Harold Ickes Homes; Dearborn Homes
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Paradise: At What Cost?
For a year-long convergence investigation into Southwest Florida housing prices, reporters for Naples Daily News custom-built a searchable online database of more than 100,000 real estate transactions and median home prices for more than 1600 single family neighborhoods and condo developments in Southwest Fla. They also did more than 500 interviews with local residents, housing and government officials. The series resulted in 33 stories, multiple video interviews, behind-the-scenes vodcasts, weekly podcasts, online reader chats
Tags: Broadcast; cable access television; CAR; computer-assisted reporting; convergence; Housing; development; economy; real estate; podcasts; vodcasts; online databases; reader response; interactive