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 "rent" ...
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Los Angeles VA Has Made Millions on Rental Deals
This story is about one of the most fought-over pieces of property in Los Angeles, the 400 acre Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus in West Los Angeles. It’s in an affluent neighborhood and has been a target of developers. But with many unused buildings, it’s also been coveted as a place to house some of L.A.’s 8,000 homeless veterans. That was the original use of the land, which was donated for an Old Soldiers’ Home in the late 19th century. The VA has not acted on plans announced in 2007 to begin rehabbing unused buildings there for housing for homeless vets. Meanwhile, it’s rented out land and buildings to commercial enterprises. There is no public accounting for this income. Through FOIA and other documents, we found that the VA is renting out the property using a law intended for sharing health care resources, though the renters are non-health related commercial enterprises. We were also able to estimate that the VA has taken in at least 28 million and possibly more than 40 million dollars over the past dozen years, far more than the cost of re-habbing a building to house homeless vets.
Tags: Property; neighborhood; land uses; veterans
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The Columbus Dispatch: Credit Scars
The Dispatch documented the plight of thousands who, through no fault of their own, have been denied the chance to buy a home or a car, take out a loan for college, rent an apartment, land a job, join the Armed Forces, receive medical care or even open a checking account.
Tags: Credit cards; credit reports; checking accounts; banks
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Reaching New Heights
Students at the University of Buffalo were (and continue) to rent poorly - and often illegally- structured off-campus houses that put their lives in danger. This piece looks into why this is happening, who is responsible, and what prevention measures the university and the city are taking.
Tags: Rent; Universities; Off Campus; Housing; Danger
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George Alan Rekers and the Rent Boy
George Rekers is a major anti-gay activist who pioneered a so-called clinical "cure" for homosexuality in the 1970s. The Miami New Times caught him vacationing with an escort from rentboy.com.
Tags: homosexuality; gay; george rekers; escort; rentboy.com; anti-gay; Family Research Council
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Company's Choice Made Cars Less Safe
General Motors removed the side airbags, at request of fleet customers, from the standard package Impalas to save money for these fleet customers. In doing so, they risked the safety of thousands of people. Enterprise Rent-A-Car was one of these fleet customers, who bought “65,000 vehicles” knowing that the airbags had been removed. Enterprise not only rented these out, but also sold them online using false advertising. After this was revealed, Enterprise and many car dealerships issued apologies and bought back these vehicles above book value.
Tags: automobiles; cars; Chevy; used cars; safety feature; consumers; transportation; restraint system; build sheet; auto safety
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"Wombs for Rent"
The U.S. is one of the only developed countries that allows surrogacy, though the laws differ across the states. Taking an in-depth look into the world of commercial surrogacy, Habiba Nosheen and Hilke Schellmann find the current system leaves a lot of room for "deceit and fraud." They follow one woman through the surrogacy process and reveal a number of problems, including health insurance fraud.
Tags: surrogacy; SurroGenesis; Tonya Collina; Sarah Jessica Parker
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War of Values
The piece uncovers the mystery of the Lembi family and their expansion into the San Francisco real estate market. During a time period, they bought almost every apartment available on the market and tripled their real estate holdings by overbidding on properties. “The family’s expansion drove up rents citywide, chased out thousands of tenants and changed the face of San Francisco by driving out thousands of citizens.”
Tags: San Francisco; Real Estate; Wall Street; Lembi; Renting; Financial Crisis; Landlords
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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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Friendly Dealings
"The story uncovered the close ties between Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and a political operative named Jeff Larson. It detailed how Larson arranged for Coleman to live in his $1 million townhouse for only $600-a-month. It also showed that Coleman failed to pay some of his rent, and how Larson's company, FLS Connect, had been given $1.6 million in business by Coleman's PAC and Senate campaign committee. The story also disclosed that Larson's wife, Dorene, was on Coleman's Senate payroll under her maiden name, Kainz. After National Journal questioned Coleman about the arrangement with Larson's wife, the senator's staff announced she would be leaving her job the following month."
Tags: corruption; Minnesota; Jeff Larson; Dorene Larson; Norm Coleman; FLS Connect;
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section 8: Subsidizing Surburbia
"Thousands of poor people have moved out of Cincinnati's inner-city ghettos and settled into homes on middle-class, suburban streets- exactly the result a federal housing program intended. But that victory comes at a cost: Poor families with government subsidies that help pay the rent are creating new pockets of low-income housing in formerly stable, middle-class neighborhoods."
Tags: clustering; relocation; township; housing; property; real estate; urban development;