Congress moves to action following USA TODAY foreclosure analysis
How interactive data journalism made policy personal
By: Lemuel H. Thornton III
At the end of September, Congress announced actions to protect senior citizens and investigate the abusive practices tied to reverse mortgages.
The move followed an attention-grabbing investigative report published by USA TODAY in June. In it, they found that predominately black neighborhoods were disproportionately impacted by these practices, with reverse mortgages ending in foreclosure six times more often than in neighborhoods that are 80% white.
To make the report personal, USA TODAY displayed the data on an interactive map that encouraged readers to explore trends across the country and zoom in on their own backyards. The use of search made it easy for more than 3 million readers, including Congress, to see at a glance where nearly 100,000 reverse mortgages failed in 2013 to 2017.
On September 25th, two members of Congress unveiled a bill to protect senior citizens, which included reforms identified in the USA TODAY article. The House Financial Services Committee also pressed the mortgage industry for further answers on foreclosures, with Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO) citing the USA Today report during the hearing. At the same time, HUD announced a major fix to help non-borrowing spouse widows — like the person featured in the report — and the Government Accountability Office released a report confirming USA TODAY’s findings.
Sarah Bolling Mancini, a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, was quoted in a follow-up article on the actions saying:
“The piece USA TODAY did was important to focus on these issues and it helped put pressure on HUD. For many people this will absolutely change their lives — allowing them to stay in their longtime home rather than being foreclosed or evicted.”
We love maps’ ability to elevate stories like this and drive attention around issues that impact people’s lives. It’s amazing to see USA Today’s work with data helping to reign in abusive lending practices, and a clear example of the important role data journalism plays in the function of our democracy. If you’re working on visualizing data for journalism and reporting, reach out to our team.
