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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.

Foreclosure Crisis

New March Mortgage Mod Data: Cancellations Jump, Logjam Continues

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.

by Paul Kiel,

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

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

Treasury, Ahem, Clarifies Goals for the Mortgage Mod Program

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.

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

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

by Paul Kiel,

Your Bailout Update: $315 Billion in the Red

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.

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

Check Out Our New Loan Mod Page

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

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

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

And The World’s Longest Trial Mod Is...

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.

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

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

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.

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

New Data: See the Mortgage Mod Logjam for Each Servicer

by Paul Kiel,