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 market" ...
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Foreclosure Crisis
The reporters reveal the underlying flaws in a public-private debacle involving the Obama administration's program that depended on the good faith of mortgage servicers.
Tags: mortgage; foreclosure; housing market; home
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The Next Housing Shock
An investigation of the foreclosure robo-signing scandal.
Tags: Forgery; Housing Market
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Short Sale Shenanigans
The story uncovers a little known practice in this post-bubble real estate world: the people who make money flipping and flopping houses in a time of crashing prices and foreclosures.
Tags: flopping houses; short sale; housing market; foreclosures
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Wall Street Money Machine
The series showed how some bankers on Wall Street saw problems in the housing market long before the public and policy makers. This meant huge gains for the bankers and a loss of jobs and savings for the public.
Tags: Wall Street; bankers; housing crisis; housing bubble; mortgage
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Wall Street Money Machine
This series of stories reveals that several Wall Street bankers saw indications of the housing market meltdown "long before the public and policy makers." The three-part series offers a different look at the all too familiar results of bigger payouts for the bankers and huge job and savings losses for the public. The series covers the hedge fund Magnetar and the "mechanics" behind the failure of Merrill Lynch.
Tags: Merrill Lynch; Magnetar; CDOs; Wall Street; bankers; gains; payouts; economic crisis; BankAmerica; hedge fund; housing market; bribery
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"Racial disparities in home lending"
A 2008 analysis of more than half a million home loan applications in the Dayton, Ohio, region revealed that blacks with higher incomes were denied home loans, while lower-income whites were not. The report also found that blacks were more likely to receive "high-cost loans" than whites. The real estate market denies redlining practices that were made illegal "in 1977 by the federal Community Reinvestment Act."
Tags: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; NICAR; GIS; Community Reinvestment Advisory Group; Dean Lovelace; Dayton Human Relations Commission; Federal Housing Authority; home loans; redlining
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Your Government At Work: Post Office Mansion
"The investigation discovered the U.S. Postal Service was buying million dollar homes of employees who relocated at a time when the agency was cutting services and experiencing record losses. They found that the Postal Service had no limit on the amount it would pay for the homes."
Tags: postmaster; mail; FOIA; real estate; housing; market; Congress; federal government; Cartus Relocation; inspector general; funds
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Maxwell Street: The New Moneymakers
This series spotlights the redevelopment of Chicago’s Maxwell Street Market and found a number of surprising details. These details reveal that the housing available for the poor, the poor are unable to afford and most of the housing goes to those who are well-connected and well-off. Also, with help from City Hall, the developers with political connections end up making large profits.
Tags: Mayor Daley; property tax; condos; real estate; homes; University Village; property; city officials; taxpayers; market
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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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"Inside the Collapse"
Kerry Killinger, former CEO of Washington Mutual, refused to take blame for the bank's collapse. Instead, he cited the faltering housing market and "credit crisis." An investigation by The Seattle Times reveals Killinger and his employees used "reckless" and "predatory practices," like encouraging high-risk loans, to increase the bank's profits. The greed-fueled decisions eventually led to the bank's collapse.
Tags: WaMu; Kerry Killinger; Lehman Brothers; Washington Mutual; Countrywide Financial