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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.

Loan Mods Tracker

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

by Paul Kiel and Dan Nguyen,

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

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

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

by Paul Kiel,

TARP Watchdog Launches Audit of Bailout Contracts

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.

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

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

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.

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

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

by Paul Kiel,

Chart: Performance by Mortgage Servicers Through December 2009

by Paul Kiel and Dan Nguyen,

Foreclosure Crisis

Homeowners Say Banks Not Following Rules for Loan Modifications

by Paul Kiel,

With Bank Money Returning, Bailout Burden Shifts Toward Housing

by Paul Kiel,

Foreclosure Crisis

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

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.

by Paul Kiel,