Hunterbrook x ProPublica

This week, Hunterbrook helped ProPublica break a blockbuster:

It was the latest win for Hunterbrook’s housing database — which we first built for our investigation into United Wholesale Mortgage, the largest home lender in the country. It’s a unique engine for interrogating wrongdoing by lenders, homebuilders, and others in the real estate industry with information on every mortgage in the country: who lives where; how much they are paying; which counterparties they use; and yes, whether they labeled a second home as their primary residence, which is suddenly (strangely!) becoming a thing.

We are using all this information as a key pillar of our Housing beat, led by Jenny Ahn and Matt Termine, who contributed to ProPublica’s story.

UWM has since become the focus of a national RICO lawsuit and charges from the Ohio Attorney General.

We also used the database to scrutinize homebuilders ripping off consumers and Restoration Hardware’s claims about the value of its properties.

Do you have any Housing leads we should report? Creative approaches to how you’d use our database? Reach out at ideas@hntrbrk.com.

Also, we’re hiring a multimedia investigative reporter — fluent in tiktoks, reels, and scaling engaged followership through incredible content. You? Your cousin? Your friend? DM us on IG or TikTok, or email talent@hntrbrk.com.

Last thing: We are about to break a few of our biggest investigations yet.

So follow us @hntrbrkmedia on X; @hunterbrook on IG; @huntrbrookmedia on TikTok.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone who loves investigative reporting… and getting the bad guys.

— Sam