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 "consumer debt" ...
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Debt Deception?
Although the financial crisis exposed the perils of predatory lending, some of the worst practices continue to elude regulators. The Center for Public Integrity's "Debt Deception" series takes a penetrating look at some of the most egregious lending practices afflicting consumers today.
Tags: financial crisis; debt; deception; lending practices
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Debt Settlement/Abusive Debt Collection
Debt settlement company complaints are on the rise. The story shows how one family in Minnesota turned to a debt settlement company for help and ended up with increased debt as a result.
Tags: debt settlement; scam; credit card debt; debt; consumer; credit solution disputes
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Scam-At-Home
A number of online scams are offering work at home opportunities to consumers. In this economic recession, many people are looking for ways to make money and these scams seem to be the perfect way. Some of the major scams are mystery shopping, stuffing envelopes, and rebate processing. The investigation into this story discovered these scams among the many and along the way found the scammers who were running these operations.
Tags: Internet; employment; finances; con job; credit; wealth; debt; website; Better Business Bureau; Federal Trade Commission
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Inside the Financial Fiasco
In this series, it describes the underlying causes of the economic crisis. At the center of the problem were "stated-income loans, mortgages where the lenders never bothered to verify borrowers' incomes". Another cause to the crisis is the country's extraordinary amount of consumer debt. Also, now that we are in tough economic times scams are put together to target those in financial trouble and scamming them out of more money.
Tags: crisis; economy; financial; mortgage industry; investment banks; debt; banking; families; interest rates; credit; business
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Forgive Us Our Debts
Increasing abuse by debt collectors not only violates federal law, but is indicative of a growing $60 billion market for reselling debt. The massive market resembles the unstable mortgage-security market, and collapse could put the economy on the brink again. Additionally, tactics used by debt collectors are abusive and often unfounded on any hard evidence of consumer debt. The debt resale market is plagued with problems that surface in this investigation.
Tags: collection; collectors; debtors; debt; consumers; practices; tactics; abuse; reselling; market; economy; debt; victims; lawsuits;
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Credit Troubles
This series looks into some of the hidden traps and power imbalances that characterize the credit industry. Business Week spoke with executives, employees and consumers of various arms of the credit industry.
Tags: credit score; home-loan; FICO; debt; consumer-law bar; repay; payment
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The Financial Collapse
Among the findings in this package are: In February, Morgenson warned that the arcane contracts known as credit-default swaps were so volatile and explosive that they would "set off a chain reaction of losses at financial institutions." In May, she examined the moves by private investment firms to buy up hundreds of New York apartment buildings, betting that they could evict tenants and raise rents. In July, she reported on the enormous increase in consumer debt and the changes in the lending system that encouraged risky loans. In September, she dissected the small London Investment unit that had bedazzled the insurance giant AIG with its profits but soon brought it to its knees and helped trigger a widespread collapse. In November, she profiled the reckless executives who gambled on subprime home mortgages and led Merrill Lynch to its demise. In December, she held the credit-rating agencies to sharp account, in particular Moody's, showing how they had minimized or overlooked the dangers to investors.
Tags: AIG; credit-default swaps; Wall Street; Merill Lynch; Federal Reserve; columnists
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The Credit Trap
This series ties lax credit card lending and punishing fee practices to the housing boom, to consumers' mounting financial distress, and to the economic downturn. The reports revealed that during the housing boom, banks sharply raised card limits in part because of a surge in home equity, much of it now vanished. Then banks guided borrowers to tap into rising home equity to pay off card balances, putting their homes at risk.
Tags: credit card; credit card debt; home equity; housing market; economy; rate hikes; mortgages; banking industry; card lenders
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The Poverty Business
Major national companies are found to be trapping vulnerable consumers into expensive loans by use of credit cards, computers and used cars. People are being pushed to pay off debts for which they've been cleared by bankruptcy courts and they are becoming more poor because of it.
Tags: microfinance; interest; Roxanne Tsosie; credit card; loans; bankruptcy; bankruptcy court; debt; poverty
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Debtors' Hell
Examining a "system stacked in favor of collectors," the Globe discusses the side effects of the increase in consumer debt in Massachusetts and the nation. Among the findings is that "the legal system has been overwhelmed by collectors pursuing debtors through all manner of hard-edged tactics."
Tags: Debt; debt collection; consumer debt; unlicensed collectors; debt lawsuits