Paul Kiel
Paul Kiel covers business and consumer finance for ProPublica.
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Paul Kiel covers business and consumer finance for ProPublica.
In recent years, he’s focused on the U.S. tax system. The Secret IRS Files, which involved a team of ProPublica reporters, revealed key ways the ultrawealthy avoid taxes. Before that, he worked on The TurboTax Trap and Gutting the IRS investigations.
Past areas of focus included the foreclosure crisis, high-cost lending, the use of lawsuits to collect consumer debts, and the consumer bankruptcy system.
He has won numerous awards, including the Selden Ring Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, a Barlett & Steele Award, a Scripps Howard Award twice, a Hillman Prize, and a Philip Meyer Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors.
His work has appeared in several newspapers, including The Washington Post and The New York Times. He has also produced stories for National Public Radio and American Public Media’s Marketplace, as well as appeared on This American Life.
Behind Administration Spin: Bailout Still $123 Billion in the Red
The administration has been on a charm offensive about the TARP. We check in with our bailout database to show where things really stand.
Government Vows to Curb Banks' Foreclosure Practices, But Enforcement Still a Question Mark
Hosts of federal agencies and regulators, along with the 50 state attorneys general, are hard at work on laying out new rules for banks and mortgage servicers. But attempts to reform this process have failed before. Will banks abusing the system be held accountable?
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.
Despite Finding Big Problems in Mortgage Industry, Regulators' Punishment Unclear
Federal regulators say they're going to crack down after finding "critical deficiencies" with how banks and mortgage servicers have been handling struggling homeowners. But it's an open question just what form a punishment will take.
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.
Banks Modifying Tiny Percentage of Mortgages in Need
Mortgage modifications, both proprietary and HAMP, are just as rare as they were before the government’s mortgage modification program launched 19 months ago.
Gov’t Has Spent Small Fraction of $50 Billion Pledged for Loan Mods
Data obtained by ProPublica show how much has been spent through the government’s mortgage modification program (HAMP). Our data show how much has gone to each mortgage servicer.