Paul Kiel

Contact Info

e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
twitter: paulkiel

Get Updates

Our Hottest Stories

Most Read
Most Emailed
Most Commented

Paul Kiel wrote for TPMmuckraker, Talking Points Memo’s investigative reporting blog, from 2006 to 2008. 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)

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

March 31, 2010, 1:31 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, 11:55 a.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, 1:06 p.m.

Your Bailout Update: $315 Billion in the Red

March 8, 2010, 12:40 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, 9:18 a.m.

The Story So Far on the Gov’t Loan Mod Program

March 5, 2010, 10:28 a.m.

And The World’s Longest Trial Mod Is…

Feb. 25, 2010, 10:17 a.m.

Under the government’s foreclosure prevention program, trial periods for mortgage modifications are supposed to last only three months. But some homeowners have waited nearly 10 months to learn whether they will get permanent modifications.

Chase and Other Servicers Leave Many in Loan Mod Limbo; Treasury Threatens Penalties

Feb. 24, 2010, 12:30 p.m.

Some 97,000 homeowners have been stuck in trial mortgage modifications for longer than six months -- nearly two-thirds of them with JPMorgan Chase. But the Treasury Department says its lenience with the loan servicers is about to end.

New Data: See the Mortgage Mod Logjam for Each Servicer

Feb. 18, 2010, 1:41 p.m.

Loan Mods Tracker

Feb. 18, 2010, 1:20 p.m.

How is the $75 billion home mortgage foreclosure prevention program performing?

New Bailout Page: How Deep Is the Gov’t in the Red?

Feb. 12, 2010, 1:08 p.m.

Help ProPublica Find the Homeowner Who’s Been in Loan-Mod Limbo the Longest

Feb. 11, 2010, 11:58 a.m.

TARP Watchdog Launches Audit of Bailout Contracts

Feb. 9, 2010, 12:32 p.m.

The Treasury Department has spent more than $159 million paying financial companies and legal firms to help handle the bailout. Now the TARP's inspector general is looking into whether the government is getting its money's worth.

Chase Denied Loan Mods for Now Forbidden Reason—Homeowners in Limbo

Feb. 4, 2010, 11:57 a.m.

Chase Home Finance has rejected some mortgage modifications because it considered the homeowners' hardships to be temporary. The Treasury Department has since barred that practice, but those homeowners are left struggling to avoid foreclosure.

Logjam Continues for Loan Mods; Big Banks Fare Poorly, Data Show

Jan. 19, 2010, 8:59 a.m.

Chart: Performance by Mortgage Servicers Through December 2009

Jan. 15, 2010, 5:52 p.m.

Homeowners Say Banks Not Following Rules for Loan Modifications

Jan. 14, 2010, 10 a.m.

With Bank Money Returning, Bailout Burden Shifts Toward Housing

Jan. 7, 2010, 12:42 p.m.

Loan Mod Program Delays Even Worse for Those Struggling Not to Fall Behind

Dec. 21, 2009, 10:44 a.m.

The troubles of a Florida homeowner show how the loan modification program isn’t working as it should for people who are struggling to pay their mortgages but have not fallen behind. Servicers are concentrating on those in default, and say they don’t have clear guidance on how to screen borrowers who are not yet in default.

Bank Failure Friday: 7 Banks Go Down, 3 with No Buyer

Dec. 19, 2009, 1:12 p.m.

< 1 2 3 4 5 > Last »

Safeguard the public interest.

Support ProPublica’s award-winning investigative journalism.

Donate