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On the Hook

El DMV y los principales legisladores de Connecticut prometen revisar las leyes de remolque

Los planes para reformar las leyes de remolque en la sesión legislativa de este año siguen a una investigación de The Connecticut Mirror y ProPublica que descubrió que los remolcadores pueden vender los autos tan solo 15 días después de recogerlos.

Local Reporting Network

Feds Fine Baker College $2.5 Million for Deceptive Marketing That Left Students With Debts and Regrets

A 2022 investigation detailed how the once-growing Michigan school built its reputation on slick advertising despite low graduation rates and leaving many students burdened with heavy debt.

On the Hook

Connecticut DMV and Top Lawmakers Vow to Review Towing Laws

The plans to reform towing laws in this year’s legislative session follow a Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica investigation that found people’s cars can be sold just 15 days after they’re towed.

Local Reporting Network

Series

155 stories published since 2015

Tribal Lenders Say They Can Charge Over 600% Interest. These States Stopped Them.

How Many Cars Have Connecticut Towing Companies Sold? The DMV Can’t Tell Us.

El DMV y los principales legisladores de Connecticut prometen revisar las leyes de remolque

Feds Fine Baker College $2.5 Million for Deceptive Marketing That Left Students With Debts and Regrets

Connecticut DMV and Top Lawmakers Vow to Review Towing Laws

The Tribal Lending Industry Offers Quick Cash Online at Outrageous Interest Rates. Here’s How It’s Survived.

A Tribal Lender Charging 800% APR Has Agreed to Stop Operating in Minnesota

What No One Tells You About Car Loan Deferments

One of the Nation’s Largest Auto Lenders Told Customers, “We’re Here to Help.” Then It Took Their Money and Their Cars.

A Wisconsin Tribe Built a Lending Empire Charging 600% Annual Rates to Borrowers

TitleMax Demands High-Interest Payments From Borrowers in Bankruptcy

How We Measured the Title Lending Industry in Georgia

Thousands of Katrina Survivors Were Freed From Debt to the State. Those Who Already Paid Are Out of Luck.

The Powerful Forces Keeping High Interest Title Lending Alive in Georgia

Are Colorado’s Efforts to Curb HOA Foreclosures Working?

HOA Foreclosures Are a “Lose-Lose” Game for Coloradans, but These Lawyers Win Regardless of the Outcome

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Fines TitleMax $15 Million for Predatory Lending

Inside the Controversial Sales Practices of the Nation’s Biggest Title Lender

How Title Lending Works

How Title Lenders Trap Poor Americans in Debt With Triple-Digit Interest Rates

Ohio Lawmakers Seek Strict Rules for “Clean Energy” Lending

Michigan’s Largest Utility Faces Pushback on Debt Sales and Shut-Offs as Company Asks for Rate Hike

Colorado Legislature Passes HOA Foreclosure Reform Bill

Colorado HOA Foreclosure Reform Legislation Moves Forward

They Faced Foreclosure Not From Their Mortgage Lender, but From Their HOA

A Return to Robo-Signing: JPMorgan Chase Has Unleashed a Lawsuit Blitz on Credit Card Customers

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Proposes Further Traffic Ticket Reforms to Help Low-Income Motorists

Loan Forgiveness for Disabled Borrowers Was 10 Years in the Making

The Education Department Will Forgive $5.8 Billion in Student Loans for Disabled Borrowers

Cities in Ohio Want to Use the Same Clean-Energy Financing Company That Saddled Missouri Homeowners With Debt

Some Hospitals Kept Suing Patients Over Medical Debt Through the Pandemic

Missouri Lawmakers Approve Reforms to Controversial Clean-Energy Loan Program

Clean-Energy Loans Trapped Black Homeowners in Debt. The Legislature Just Started Trying to Fix the Problem.

State-Supported “Clean Energy” Loans Are Putting Borrowers at Risk of Losing Their Homes

There’s Only One State Where Falling Behind on Rent Could Mean Jail Time. That Could Change.

Feds Investigating Lender That Sued Thousands of Lower-Income Latinos During Pandemic

Thousands of Illinois Drivers Would Get Their Licenses Back Under a Criminal Justice Reform Bill

Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years

A Lender Sued Thousands of Lower-Income Latinos During the Pandemic. Now It Wants to Be a National Bank.

JPMorgan Chase Bank Wrongly Charged 170,000 Customers Overdraft Fees. Federal Regulators Refused to Penalize It.

The Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped This School District From Suing Parents Over Unpaid Textbook Fees

New Bill Proposes Stopping Unemployment Agencies That Make Mistakes From Demanding Money Back

Nonprofit Hospital Almost Never Gave Discounts to Poor Patients During Collections, Documents Show

A Guide to Navigating the Texas Unemployment System During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The Fed Saved the Economy but Is Threatening Trillions of Dollars Worth of Middle-Class Retirement

Help Us Investigate Collection Practices at Virginia Colleges and Universities

Debt Collectors Have Made a Fortune This Year. Now They’re Coming for More.

What Happens After a Debt Collection Machine Grinds to a Halt

La empresa prestamista que demandó a miles de latinos de bajos ingresos durante la pandemia

Cómo determinamos cuántas demandas de cobranza de adeudos presentó Oportun Inc. durante la pandemia

What We’re Watching

During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.

Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.

Photo of Sharon Lerner
Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Andy Kroll

I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.

Photo of Melissa Sanchez
Melissa Sanchez

I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.

Photo of Jesse Coburn
Jesse Coburn

I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.

If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.

Most Read

    Threat in Your Medicine Cabinet: The FDA’s Gamble on America’s Drugs

    A ProPublica investigation found that for more than a decade, the FDA gave substandard factories banned from the United States a special pass to keep sending drugs to an unsuspecting public.

    Federal Judge Deems Trump Administration’s Termination of NIH Grants Illegal

    In a ruling issued Monday, the judge called the government’s directives “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered funding for some of the NIH grants, including many profiled by ProPublica in recent months, to be restored.

    We Spent a Year Investigating How the FDA Let Risky Drugs Into the U.S. Market

    Our investigation exposed a little-known practice inside the FDA that allowed more than 150 drugs or their ingredients into the U.S. over the past dozen years even though they were made at factories banned from shipping their products here.

    “The Intern in Charge”: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention

    One year out of college and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism.

    100 Students in a School Meant for 1,000: Inside Chicago’s Refusal to Deal With Its Nearly Empty Schools

    Declining school enrollment has left 30% of Chicago public schools at least half-empty. The city’s failure to address this problem has come at a high cost to the district — and its students.