Paul Kiel

Read Paul Kiel's e-book, The Great American Foreclosure Story, on your Kindle or mobile device.

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Paul Kiel's coverage of the foreclosure crisis at ProPublica won a 2011 Scripps Howard Award for business/economics reporting and a Best in Business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He’s produced stories for the Washington Post, USA Today, Slate, and American Public Media’s Marketplace, among others.

Before joining ProPublica in 2008, Kiel wrote for TPMmuckraker, Talking Points Memo's investigative reporting blog. TPM's coverage of the firings of U.S. attorneys and politicization of the Department of Justice won a George Polk Award for legal reporting.

Articles (page 3 of 22)

In Financial Regulation Bill, Increased Transparency for Loan Mod Program

July 21, 2010, 2:07 p.m.

The formula for testing homeowners’ eligibility for a mortgage modification will not be a secret anymore. The Treasury Department will now have to post the details online.

Loan Mod Backlogs Continue Despite Servicers’ Pledges to Improve

July 21, 2010, 11:14 a.m.

Loan servicers in the federal mortgage modification program continue to have large backlogs, but the administration has not responded with penalties. Many homeowners continue to be stuck in trial modifications.

Help Us Report on the Loan Modification Process

July 13, 2010, 11:44 a.m.

Survey: Homeowners Working With Servicers Often Blindsided by Foreclosures

July 7, 2010, 9:41 a.m.

Many housing counselors in California are seeing clients lose their homes while pursuing mortgage modifications. That’s not supposed to happen, but there have been no penalties for the banks involved.

Loan Mod Program Still Sputtering, Despite Attempted Fixes

June 22, 2010, 11:15 a.m.

No Penalties for Mortgage Company with Worst Loan Mod Backlog

May 28, 2010, 1:53 p.m.

Saxon Mortgage has the largest proportion of homeowners caught in modification limbo, yet has not been subject to any government penalties.

Chase Leaves Thousands Stuck in Loan Mod Limbo

May 19, 2010, 12:05 a.m.

New data show that Chase has the most homeowners who have waited more than six months for a final answer on whether they’ll get a permanent mortgage modification. Trial modifications are supposed to last only three months.

Loan Mod Logjam Continues for 265,000 Homeowners; Failures Jump

May 18, 2010, 10:35 a.m.

Many homeowners who have started in the government's mortgage modification program have been stuck in trials longer than six months. And nearly as many have been dropped from the program as have received permanent mods.

Only $242 Million Spent So Far on Gov’t $75B Mortgage Mod Program

May 11, 2010, 12:06 p.m.

The progress of the program to stanch home foreclosures is still painfully slow, with only $242 million of the pledged $75 billion for loan modifications spent by the end of March.

Financial Reform Amendment Would Address Loan Mod Problems with ‘Homeowner Advocate’

May 7, 2010, 12:37 p.m.

An amendment to the financial reform bill would create a federal "homeowner advocate" office to assist people having trouble with the loan modification program, effectively centralizing the complaint process.

Disorganization at Banks Causing Mistaken Foreclosures

May 5, 2010, 3:30 p.m.

The communication breakdown within banks is sometimes so complete that it leads to premature or mistaken foreclosures. Some people have lost their homes even while going through the mortgage modification process.

Over 50 Homeowners Have Sued in the Last Year, Alleging a Communication Breakdown Led to Foreclosure

May 4, 2010, 10:29 p.m.

A Missouri man says Chase Home Finance sold his home after assuring him it would not. In a lawsuit, the man says he was mailed loan modification papers that were dated one day after the foreclosure.

Disorganization at Banks Causing Mistaken Foreclosures

May 4, 2010, 10:20 p.m.

Communication breakdowns within big banks has cause some people to lose their homes by mistake. The problems have occurred even to homeowners involved in the federal mortgage modification program.

Geithner Talks Tough on Loan Mods, and Backs It Up With … More Data

April 30, 2010, 12:30 p.m.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has finally acknowledged the depths of the problems with the administration's mortgage modification program. But in testimony before Congress this week, he offered no new solutions.

New March Mortgage Mod Data: Cancellations Jump, Logjam Continues

April 16, 2010, 11:27 a.m.

As expected, the number of homeowners being denied permanent mortgage modifications has increased sharply. And some 367,000 homeowners remain in limbo, stuck in trial modifications that have lasted longer than they are supposed to.

Reporting Matchmaker: Setting Up Home Loan Modification Applicants With Local Journalists

March 31, 2010, 2:31 p.m.

Nearly 800 struggling homeowners have told ProPublica stories about their efforts to get a loan modification through the federal program. ProPublica can use only a fraction of those in its coverage, so it wants to introduce such homeowners to local journalists.

Treasury, Ahem, Clarifies Goals for the Mortgage Mod Program

March 25, 2010, 12:55 p.m.

The administration has been saying that the Making Home Affordable program “will help up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure." But the number of expected loan modifications is actually much lower than that.

New Data Shows Loan Mod Logjam Continues; Servicers Must Double-check Denials

March 15, 2010, 2:06 p.m.

Your Bailout Update: $315 Billion in the Red

March 8, 2010, 1:40 p.m.

After shrinking for several months, the bailout's cost to taxpayers rose in February, thanks to another big investment in Fannie Mae. Taking into account revenue that the government has collected from recipients, the bailout's toll now stands at $315 billion.

Check Out Our New Loan Mod Page

March 8, 2010, 10:18 a.m.

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Read Paul Kiel's e-book, The Great American Foreclosure Story, on your Kindle or mobile device.