The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Blog
The Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune reviewed 19 million Florida real estate transactions to determine the impact of housing fraud on the collapse of the housing market. “The year-long investigation found that more than 50,000 Florida properties were flipped under suspicious circumstances from 2000 through 2008. Those flips artificially drove up housing prices and tax bills and…
Read MoreMilwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Cary Spivak and Ben Poston uncovered the latest fallout from the mortgage crisis: foreclosed properties abandoned by lenders, also known as “walkaways.” Using city and county databases the reporters found that walkaway properties were already costing the city of Milwaukee more than $400,000 in back taxes, fees and demolition costs. The…
Read MoreWe’re now regularly posting member news online, in addition to its home in the printed Journal. We’re offering Web-only content and consolidating links to some of our online features that provide tips and behind-the-scenes insight into investigative reporting. The site will work in conjunction with the printed version, and members can still access the full…
Read MoreMark Benjamin of Salon.com reports on problems plaguing Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery’s deputy superintendent, Thurman Higginbotham, has been at the center of an Army investigation involving an illegal wiretap. The grounds of the cemetery have suffered under his direction as well. “One of Higginbotham’s failures, say employees, has been his inability to rectify disturbing…
Read MoreClark Merrefield, along with fellow CUNY graduate students, analyzed New York state’s compensation program for those found to be wrongfully convicted. Their findings showed that it takes years for recipients to receive their compensation, and the payment rates are wildly uneven despite promises to the contrary.
Read MoreWelcome to the new online site for The IRE Journal. Here you will find timely posting of our popular Member News feature, some Web-only content and links to other features. This site will work in sync with the print Journal, now published quarterly. Much of the Web site content will be open to all site…
Read MoreAn investigation by Matthew D. LaPlante and Nate Carlisle of The Salt Lake Tribune found that “Logan City received repeated warnings that a privately owned canal that runs along the base of a steep bluff posed a danger to those living below, but the city failed to act on that safety issue, or even to…
Read MoreAn analysis of the latest national mortgage data by The Charlotte Observer found that “as the credit spigot dried up in 2008, blacks and Hispanics were more likely to be denied mortgage loans than whites.” The analysis found that nearly one out of two African Americans applicants were denied loans for the purchase or refinance…
Read MoreIn a continuing investigation into failed oversight of California’s health professionals, ProPublica and The Los Angeles Times found the California Board of Registered Nursing, responsible for the oversight of 350,000 nurses, “often takes years to act on complaints of egregious misconduct, leaving nurses accused of wrongdoing free to practice without restrictions.” An analysis of the…
Read MoreAn analysis of Wisconsin boating accident data by Jacob Kushner and Kryssy Pease of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism found that accidents in non-motorized boats are often fatal. “Eight of the 20 people who died last year were in non-motorized boats, most of which capsized…Over the past 10 years, 193 people died in 1,311 boating…
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