Olga Pierce
Olga Pierce is a reporter at ProPublica, specializing in data-driven stories.
Olga Pierce is a reporter, specializing in data-driven stories. Previously, she was deputy data editor at ProPublica.
She is a winner of the 2015 Deadline Club Award for Medical Reporting for her work on patient harm. In 2011 she received a Livingston Award for National Reporting and an honorable mention for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, both for her reporting on increasing corporate interference in the drawing of congressional districts. She also shared 2011 Scripps Howard and Society of Business Editors and Writers awards as part of a team focusing on foreclosures.
Olga has appeared on CBS News and C-SPAN, and her stories have been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune and the Hindustan Times in New Delhi.
She is a graduate of the Stabile Investigative Journalism Seminar at Columbia University, where she won a Horton Prize for health reporting. Olga is fluent in Czech and has a bachelor’s in international economics from Georgetown University.
By the Numbers: A Revealing Look at the Mortgage Mod Meltdown
We compiled the most compelling data we could find to show how the mortgage industry and the government's main effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), have failed homeowners.
Loan Mod Program Left Homeowners' Fate in Hands of Dysfunctional Industry
The Obama administration’s flagship foreclosure prevention program has gambled on the willingness and ability of a troubled industry to help homeowners.
Dems: Obama Broke Pledge to Force Banks to Help Homeowners
Candidate Obama pledged to support real change in bankruptcy laws to help foundering homeowners. But when it came time to fight for the measure, he didn’t show up. Some Democrats now say his administration actually undermined it behind the scenes.
Govt's Loan Mod Program Crippled by Lax Oversight and Deference to Banks
The Obama administration’s $75 billion foreclosure prevention program has been weakened, perhaps fatally, by a posture of cooperation—rather than enforcement—with the nation’s biggest banks.
States Will Soon Have To Start Paying Interest on Their Massive Unemployment Borrowing
Many states have had to borrow billions from the federal government to maintain unemployment insurance payments. But the interest-free grace period on those loans that came with the stimulus bill is about to run out.
Lawsuits Highlight Troubles With Government's Loan-Modification Program
A recent decision to consolidate several class-action suits accusing Bank of America of unfairly denying mortgage modifications could cover over 100,000 homeowners and raise more questions about the government’s loan mod program.
Homeowner Questionnaire Shows Banks Violating Gov't Program Rules
Mortgage servicers regularly make errors and break the government's loan modification rules, including giving no reasons for a loan's rejection, homeowners report to ProPublica.
As Congress Votes on Unemployment Insurance Extension, Deeper Problems Remain
Congress is expected to reinstate extended unemployment benefits, but state unemployment trust funds are still in a shambles.
See Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan’s Financials for Yourself
Financial disclosure and ethics forms that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan filed when she was nominated to be solicitor general are available for your perusal. They show a $10,000 "stipend" as a member of a Goldman Sachs advisory council.
Gov’t Report Suggests Fixes for Broken Unemployment Insurance System
A GAO reports suggests ways to allow state unemployment funds to become more solvent, including increasing the base wage that can be taxed and eliminating free loans to states to shore up their funds.