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 "realtor" ...
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A Renter's Nightmare
"Banks are illegally evicting Chicago tenants when their landlords foreclose, with the unwitting assistance of the Cook County Sheriff's Office."
Tags: paperwork; fraud; eviction; realty; Realtor; mortgage service;
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Baby-Faced Butchers
Realtor Michael McMorrow was murdered on May 23, 1997 in Central Park after being stabbed 34 times, disemboweled and thrown into the lake. The two killers were teenagers: a spoiled rich girl, Daphne Abdela and her working class boyfriend Christopher Vasquez.
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Property Tax, Appraisals Explained
When valuing a piece of land the sales price is needed but buyers and sellers of property are required to disclose the price. Appraisal districts must find the information itself but when an outside expert was hired to review the job of the appraisal districts, tens of thousands of errors were found where property values would be up to ten percent off.
Tags: housing; realty; realtor; Dallas County Chief Appraiser; DCAD; property tax; real estate;
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Which Price is Right?
A massive mortgage scheme that dramatically increased the price of rental homes at the closing table was uncovered by the Journal-Gazette. Novice investors were tricked into paying an inflated price for dilapidated homes with only the highest sale price recorded in official documents.
Tags: real estate; realtor; John Kintz; Jeff Radabaugh;
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Teflon Don
Local businessman Donald Boehm took millions of dollars with the help of lawyers, Realtors and an account, from the estate of his own cousin and other business associates. Boehm was thought to be connected with the 2004 death of one of the business associates that he was stealing money from.
Tags: bankruptcy; theft; launder; steal; cosimo dibrizzi; embezzle
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Harvesting Cash
"Harvesting Cash examined waste, fraud and abuse in the multibillion-dollar system of federal agricultural subsidies crafted by Congress and administered by the USDA."
Tags: USDA; Congress; farming; realtors; Loan Deficiency Program; Livestock Compensation Program; powedered milk; drought; Federal Crop Insurance Program;
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Hillsborough County School District Land Investigation
The ninth largest U.S. school district, Hillsborough County (FL), in 2006 was "growing fast enough to fill five new schools" per year. To meet the demand, Hillsborough county used the services of 4 private real estate brokers, without using bids, in violation of its own regulations. Three of the four brokers have records of criminal, legal and financial problems. Some of those brokers simultaneously represented the sellers, or flipped the land themselves, resulting in land purchases often made substantially above appraisal values. Reporters from the St. Petersburg Times documented swampland purchases, and school sites surrounded by the homes of sexual predators.
Tags: land; school board; school district superintendent; real estate brokers; realtors; swampland; bidding practices; state FOI; land flipping; rezoning applications; condemnation; assessments; appraisals; financial investigations; land records; wetland maps; FBI investigation; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Excel; Matthew B. Cox; Chester B. Luney; Fred Edmister; National Realty Associates; school planning; Wilson-Miller; Florida Real Estate Commission; 2606 East Caracus Land Trust; Laurence E. Fuentes; Fuentes and Kreischer Title Co.; Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
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Deal exposes judge to conflict of interest charges
This is a two part series, the first reveals that a judge who was also a realtor, struck a deal with a teenager's father to sell a mansion to reduce the boys' sentencing.The second part deals with how the teenager who was accused of assault was arrested again a month later and his case was to go before the same judge. But due to the real estate dealings, the case passed on to another judge. This caused the reporter to ask for the previous case to be re-opened on the pretext that the accused received preferential treatment in the first hearing due to the financial dealings.
Tags: Judge John Voetsch; FOIA; preferential treatment while sentencing; Commission on Judicial Conduct; Patrick Rukaj
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Loan Ranger: Federal Mortgage Firm Is Facing New Assault To Privileged Status
The Journal reports that "Fannie Mae has clout to counter the agencies that seek to privatize it," a clout that "stems from money, votes and connections ... Like many corporations, Fannie Mae has a political action committee to channel funds to friendly lawmakers. And whenever the status quo seems under fire, it rallies support from friendly groups with influence in every congressional district, such as realtors, mortgage lenders and homebuilders."
Tags: homebuyers; homeowners; mortgages; campaign finance; money and politics; Freddie Mac; housing; finances
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"Good Schools, Big Sales Pitch"
A systematic comparison of two neighboring school districts revealed few differences in terms of quality, though area realtors had for years been touting one district over the other. The true distinction was not one of test scores or ranking, but race - realtors were trying to sell potential buyers on a district that was over 99 percent white.
Tags: Plainfield; Joliet; real estate; taxes