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 "housing inspection" ...
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Built to Burn?`
While modular homes are becoming increasingly popular, this investigation shows how they are more likely to burn faster than traditional houses. The modular home industry, as the investigation shows, has been neglecting to undergo required safety inspections.
Tags: modular homes; inspection; fire; mobile home; homeowner; RV
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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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Compromised Care
Illinois is an outlier among states in its reliance on nursing homes to house younger adults with mental illness, including thousands of felons whose disabilities qualify them for Medicaid-funded nursing care. The reporters documented numerous recent cases in which elderly and disabled residents were assaulted, raped and even murdered in the facilities.
Tags: nursing home; mental illness; Medicaid; criminals; Illinois; police records; health department inspection data; complaint investigations; criminal records;
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Forced Out
This series from the Washington Post investigates the corrupt practices of landlords driving tenants from their homes under the guise of refusing repairs or forcing families to live without heat, hot water or electricity. This was in response to a law meant to give tenants a voice in the city's redevelopment. In recent years, tenants had fled more than 200 rent-controlled apartment complexes without the chance to vote on redevelopment. With empty buildings, landlords quickly reaped $328 million in condominium sales and avoided $16 million in conversion fees.
Tags: housing; tenant laws; redevelopment; housing-code violations; building inspections; negligent landlords; H.R. Crawford
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Housing Headaches
Since the balcony collapses of 2003 in Chicago, building codes and regulations have had to change because of the resulting deaths. The student rental properties' landlords are not maintaining the property or inspecting them every three years as they should.
Tags: student housing; rental; housing code; property damage; safety
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Broken and Unchecked
After a girl was trapped in a house fire, KIRO TV investigated "more than 50-thousand hydrant inspection and maintenance records." They found that many had not been inspected for almost ten years and 1 in 10 hydrants weren't working.
Tags: fire hydrants; inspections; house; city maintenance; fire
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UConn 2000
This series investigated the construction program at the University of Connecticut, exposing significant flaws, safety violations and cost overruns in the $2.5 billion program, the largest public building project in state history. The Courant found that the university ignored recommendations from auditors on construction and budgeting issues, resulting in cost overruns and safety violations that will cost millions to correct. The university withheld critical audit findings from the state legislature even as it was requesting more than $1 billion in additional public funding. The university changed the dimensions of a student-housing complex to bypass state fire inspections that would have delayed construction. The university handed out no-bid contracts, in some cases to contractors who increased their donations at the time they received the work.
Tags: University of Connecticut; UCONN; safety violations; cost overruns; public construction; auditors; budget; Connecticut state legislature; public funding; contractors
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Subsidizing Failure
The Tribune analyzed inspection records of housing units rented to recipients of Section 8 housing vouchers and found widespread failure. They discovered that 6,000 Chicago landlords who receive Section 8 funds failed the majority of inspections of their properties. These violations led to thousands of evictions of tenants who were not responsible for the substandard conditions of their apartments.
Tags: Section 8; Chicago Housing Authority; Hope VI Program; federal vouchers
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Dirty Dining III
Dateline examined health inspection reports for 1,000 restaurants from the top ten family chains. They found that every chain but one averaged one critical violation, or a violation that can make a customer sick, per inspection. The best chain was Denny's with 296 critical violations in 100 sampled restaurants, and the worst was Waffle House with 594 critical violations in the 100 sampled restaurants.
Tags: health inspections; family dining; food contamination; CAR computer-assisted reporting
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Housing Code Violations Fall Through the Cracks
Spencer Soper and Santa Rosa's Press Democrat investigate how landlords in Sonoma County exploited a weak and understaffed county code enforcement division. Landlords let their rental properties fall into disrepair, endangered the lives of tenants, and piled up numerous violations with no serious legal repercussions.
Tags: rental properties; housing inspection; housing code violations; Sonoma County Housing; negligent landlord