Housing
Vacant homes running up inflated water bills
An investigation by David Andreatta of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, N.Y.) found hundreds of vacant, boarded-up homes in Rochester are accruing huge water bills because the city Water Bureau does not turn off the water at many homes, and continues to bill the homes based on estimated water use when it does turn off the…
Read MoreDanger lurks in some adult foster care homes
After a staff member at an adult foster care home in the Duluth, Minn., area was left alone with and nearly raped by a resident who had twice been civilly committed for mental illness, the Duluth News Tribune investigated the homes and found numerous incidents of residents with severe mental illness, drug addiction and violent…
Read MoreChinese drywall “remediation” offers new niche for scammers
In Florida, convicted scammers and thieves are among workers selling unproven fixes and dubious diagnoses in the completely unregulated Chinese drywall “remediation” and inspection industry, a Palm Beach Post investigation found. A lack of state oversight makes dealing in drywall remedies a free-for-all for even the least qualified entrepreneurs, who are capitalizing on homeowner’s fears…
Read MoreActivist tackles Miami’s housing woes
Paul Reyes, with support from the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, reports on housing issues in Miami, Fla. where over 70,000 are on a waiting list for public housing. Additionally, Miami ranks fourth in foreclosure rates in American cities. Reyes followed community activist Max Rameau, founder of the organization Take Back the Land, as…
Read MoreLoans brokered by nonprofits contributed to housing crisis
A review of government and court records by the Huffington Post Investigation Fund shows that two nonprofit groups worked closely with some of the nation’s biggest home builders to broker tens of billions of dollars in no-money-down mortgages. Now these loans are defaulting at up to three times the rate of other FHA loans, one…
Read MoreDelays on loan modifications leave many vulnerable to foreclosure
Many homeowners have struggled to obtain loan modifications through Litton Loan Servicing, according to a report by Mc Nelly Torres for ConsumerAffairs.com. Dozens of complaints against Litton have been filed with ConsumerAffairs.com. Months-long delays on promised modifications have left many customers vulnerable to or victims of foreclosure. Litton settled a class action suit last spring “alleging…
Read MoreCity loses money as lenders abandon foreclosed properties
Milwaukee 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 MoreRace gap widens in rejections for mortgage loans
An 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 MoreLA fire inspections can’t keep pace
A Los Angeles Times analysis of fire inspection reports “show that personnel from the department’s Bureau of Fire Prevention and Public Safety have been falling behind in their efforts to flag hazards such as inoperable sprinkler systems, illegally stored hazardous materials and broken or missing fire extinguishers. In some parts of the city, inspectors were…
Read MoreSeries exposes conditions of aging mentally retarded workers
Clark Kauffman of the Des Moines Register follows up on the newspaper’s initial, exclusive stories about mentally retarded processing plant workers who spent 40 years living in an aging Iowa bunkhouse run by a Texas labor broker. The latest installment, “The Last Bunkhouse,” focuses on a licensed care facility on a rural Texas farm where…
Read More