The Charlotte Observer won the George Polk Award in business reportingfor its yearlong series on the area’s high rate of housing foreclosures and the questionable sales practices by Beazer Homes USA, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders.
A story in Tuesday’s paper stated, “The Observer’s reporting led to FBI, IRS, SEC and HUD investigations of Beazer Homes, which has since stopped making mortgage loans nationwide and stopped building homes in Charlotte.
“The series prompted new laws to protect homeowners and caused local officials to examine the damage to newly built neighborhoods devastated by foreclosures. The stories also led the N.C. Real Estate Commission to investigate Realty Place, one of Charlotte’s largest real estate agencies.
“Long Island University, which administers the Polk awards, announced that the Observer is one of 14 winners in the national competition, considered one of journalism’s top honors. The Observer last won a Polk award in 1987 for coverage of the PTL ministry scandal.”
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