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 "foreclosed homes" ...
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Trashing Your Tax Dollars
The NBC2 Investigators uncovered wasteful spending in a multi-million dollar federal program mean to re-stabilize neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosures. The program - called NSP (Neighborhood Stabilization Program) - utilized stimulus money approved during the George W. Bush administration to buy foreclosed homes, refurbish them and then sell them to families who would live in them, thus stabilizing a neighborhood. In our area, the program was administered by our county (Lee) and another program was administered by our city (Fort Myers). Our investigation of the county-run program found they were throwing away perfectly good appliances and replacing them with more expensive products. Not only could they have kept those appliances in the home - leaving them more money to refurbish others - but the appliances they did throw away could have gone to people in need in our community. Ultimately, our story forced the county to change policies in the program. They now coordinate with a local non-profit to donate all appliances and equipment once meant for the landfill.
Tags: broadcast; neighborhoods; foreclosed homes; appliances
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Bailed Out Banks Snap Up Tax Liens
Many big banks that were bailed out by taxpayers were not helping those taxpayers, but instead buying tax liens. Many of those tax liens purchases were in the same neighborhoods as homes those same banks were foreclosing on.
Tags: banks; foreclosure; tax liens
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Amazing Profits?
Many Americans are struggling to find and keep jobs in this economic recession, so when they have a chance to earn money; it is something they will jump on. An infomercial, which claims it is possible for ordinary people to make huge profits from buying tax foreclosed homes, has caught the attention of many desperate people. These people do not need real estate experience or a large amount of capital to beginning this program. But it is discovered this program is deceptive and has sold “15 thousand” DVDs and brochures a week, which explains the program.
Tags: scams; FOIA; John Beck; Free and Clear Real Estate System; customers; Family Products; telemarketer; television; taxes
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Foreclosure's Fallout
"The growing foreclosure crisis affects not only banks and borrowers, but anyone who lives in a neighborhood with a foreclosed home. Foreclosures are spreading even into newly built suburban subdivisions - and can often have a contagious effect, reducing property values in a neighborhood and pushing even more properties into foreclosure."
Tags: foreclosures; banks; borrowers; subdivisions; property values; subprime mortgages; homeowners
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Street of Broken Dreams
The authors investigated predatory lending on West Camile Street in Santa Ana, CA. They found that subprime lending had become so out of control, many residents of the area were being threatened with foreclosure after sales prices fell below the amounts they owed and monthly payments soared. The investigation reveals that most of the victims of subprime lenders are Latino; often the borrowers spoke little English and did not understand the terms of their mortgages. The story also examined the impact of the practice on the neighborhood; as homeowners packed tenants into their houses to pay mortgages, they caused crowding and parking problems. Furthermore, recently foreclosed houses are attracting squatters and gangs.
Tags: Philip Meyer Award; finance; class; poverty; mortgage; interest rates; lending; loan; loan sharks; Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; data analysis; CAR
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Foreclosing on the American Dream
"Colorado leads a national wave of foreclosures that is leaving neighborhoods blighted and forcing many homeowners into financial ruin. The Denver Post examined why the state's foreclosure rate leads the nation and how it is affecting Coloradans, their communities and the economy. Aggressive building and lending practices, lax regulation and a high rate of mortgage fraud, among other factors, are pushing thousands of homeowners into foreclosure."
Tags: forecolsure; homes; Colorado; fraud; building regulations; lending; mortgage
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Foreclosing on the American Dream
More foreclosures are filed in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina than any other county in the state.
Tags: Foreclosure; real estate; depreciation; Mecklenburg county; FHA; Federal Housing Administration; home loans; mortgage
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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 American Nightmare
WNDU-TV reports on a fraudulent mortgage scheme in which families had their homes foreclosed even though they were making mortgage payments. The fraud affected families who bought homes on land contract because they had bad credit. The fraud was done by Money Solutions, a local company owned by Tamara Sexton. According to FBI, the problem is not confined to Southern Indiana but has become commonplace all over the country, WNDU reports.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; foreclosure; houses; housing; property records; ownership; real estate; fraud
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The $600 House
WOOD-TV reports the "sale of federally foreclosed homes to insiders at token prices. We found the Department of Housing and Urban Development priced surplus FHA foreclosed homes from 500 to 1,000 dollars. The properties were not offered in the usual public sale. The exceptional deals went to two realtors who had worked under contract with HUD for many years as property managers. They in turn sold the properties for many times what they paid..."
Tags: TAPE TRANSCRIPT collusion cronyism flipping John Birnie