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 "Mortgage brokers" ...
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"House of Cards"
In this investigation, CNBC takes a look at the beginnings of the "global economic collapse." After 9/11, the U.S. government "dropped interest rates" in an attempt to breathe new life into the economy. The investigation reveals how Wall Street took on unstable mortgages to "re-package it and sell it to investors." This story includes personal accounts from home buyers, mortgage brokers, bankers and more.
Tags: hedge-fund; housing market; economic collapse; recession; Wall Street; George W. Bush; Alan Greenspan; Henry Paulson; bailouts; bankrupt; credit crisis
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Financial Traps
The series explains, after the economy tanked last year, "five different schemes that made life harder for families trying to cope with financial problems." These schemes, which were promoted by financial companies and brokers, assured families help was on the way but actually caused more hardship. Furthermore, this help came at a price for the federal government, who lost "$700 million dollars" from loans.
Tags: Economy; Financial; Families; Mortgage; Mortgage foreclosure companies; Mortgage brokers; Reverse; Federal Government
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The Subprime Wolves Are Back
Consumer advocates revealed in interviews that some mortgage lenders and brokers have reinvented themselves as FHA-backed lenders to feed off of the consumer panic following the national financial bailout.
Tags: fraud; Wall Street; paper trail; bankruptcy filing; Federal Housing Administration; stimulus package;
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Toxic Debt
"In 2007, the financial world came unhinged. A rise in late mortgage payments triggered hedge fund blowups, massive Wall Street write-offs, ousted CEOs, Congressional hearings, and intervention by central bankers and finance ministers. In a series of exclusive and prescient stories, Bloomberg exposed the ties that connected unregulated mortgage brokers, fee-hungry Wall Street banks, conflicted credit rating companies, and the managers of money market funds and public pension plans."
Tags: mortgage payments; Wall Street; brokers; banks; credit rating firms
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Brokered Dreams
Ohio leads the nation in home foreclosures.Some reasons discovered in this investigation were: mortgage lending is not covered under laws that prohibit deceptive sales practices; Ohio and Virginia are the only two states whose consumer protection laws do not cover mortgage lending; appraisers do not have to be licensed; and millions in licensing fees have been diverted from enforcement of lending laws to the general fund.
Tags: mortgage lending; home ownership; foreclosures; repossession; consumer protection; banks; home loans
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Home Costs Go North; The More Affordable Suburbs; Seeing a Hopeful Change
Hopkins used a database of average home prices in the Baltimore area, grouped by zip code, to show the increase in home-sale prices from 1999-2004. Part one of the series shows that Baltimore is slowly becoming a Washington suburb, and the changing demographic is pushing locals to move further away. Part two focuses on some of the older suburban communities in the area. Part three examines the real estate market to see who is benefiting from the changes.
Tags: real estate; property tax; Washington D.C; demographic; population; census; Computer-Assisted Reporting; data analysis; homeowners; mortgage brokers
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Flow of federal cash fed housing scheme. Investigation: Section 8 rent subsidies fuel questionable sales to investors, and poor tenants are left in limbo.
According to the author, "A mortgage broker manipulated a federal housing program meant for the poor to lure investors into a get rich quick scam that left a trail of bankruptcy and evictions." This story is a result of the reporter's eight month investigation. The article also includes a computer-generated map.
Tags: mortgage; broker; housing; federal housing program; map; scam; investors; cash; section 8; poor tenants; tenants
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No title (id: 9914)
KGO-TV (San Francisco) examines how a mortgage broker and his company made money by lending excessive money to home-owners he knew would default; he then repossessed the homes, got investors to lend money with the homes as collateral, let them fall back into foreclosure and never paid the investors back; an audit by the California Department of Real Estate a year before failed to detect the irregularities, Nov. 10, 1993.
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No title (id: 6089)
WBBM-TV (Chicago) documents widespread abuses and fraud in the credit industry; finds finance companies charging interest rates as high as 50 percent, deceptions by credit repair clinics, con men acting as mortgage brokers scamming people out of their homes, and other problems, Feb. 2 - 6, 1988.
Tags: TAPE
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No title (id: 5341)
WCVB-TV (Boston) airs report on the business of mortgage brokers who use deceptive tactics to defraud would-be homebuyers; some just take the money and run, while others reveal hidden fees and terms only after consumers had signed a contract, Oct. 28, 1987.