Lexi Cortes

Lexi Cortes investigates how housing, local infrastructure and local power affect everyday life in the Metro East suburbs of St. Louis, treating real estate as a public service and civil rights issue rather than a business beat. She is an investigative reporter at the Belleville News-Democrat and has worked at the paper since 2014, earning multiple state awards for investigative and community service reporting. Her work centers on harmful conditions, government failures and abuses of power that show up in the places where people live.

Unsafe rental housing and deteriorating properties

Cortes devotes sustained reporting to tenants living in buildings that are already in disrepair and then lose basic management and maintenance support. In coverage of metro-east apartments described as “already in ‘disrepair’” that subsequently lost their manager and maintenance staff, she focuses on what that loss means for residents’ safety, stability and ability to get problems fixed. Her questions in this kind of story track the practical consequences for tenants rather than the business implications for owners.

A major project titled “Hazardous Homes” follows residents in Cahokia Heights dealing with serious housing problems, built around on-the-ground interviews and documented conditions in their homes. The series has been recognized nationally for public service reporting, underscoring her emphasis on housing as a shared community problem rather than isolated private disputes.

Across these pieces, she uses narrative detail and residents’ own accounts to show how neglected properties and failing infrastructure shape daily life.

Landlords, corporate owners and housing rules

Cortes frequently reports on how landlords and corporate owners manage lower-cost housing, including mobile home communities. In coverage of local mobile home properties purchased by firms such as Homes of America and Alden Global Capital, she tracks ownership changes and what they may mean for residents who depend on those homes.

Her real estate stories in this space focus less on investment strategy and more on access, affordability and stability for the people living in the properties.

She also reports on crime-free housing ordinances and the civil rights questions they raise.

In a story explaining that “it’s not just Granite City” and that there is statewide attention on crime-free housing rules, she connects local policies to broader debates over fairness and the power landlords have over tenants. Additional reporting on lawsuits against Granite City over these ordinances shows her interest in how housing rules intersect with constitutional rights and discrimination claims.

Together, these pieces build a picture of real estate policy as a tool that can either protect or harm marginalized residents.

Local government, data and accountability

Cortes extends her housing and real estate coverage into the workings of local government, using records and data to evaluate how officials do their jobs. A prize-winning investigation asking “Is your St. Clair County Board member coming to work?

Here are their attendance records” compiles and analyzes attendance data for each board member, presenting a clear, accessible measure of performance. That approach reflects a broader method: she uses public records to quantify behavior that residents might otherwise only suspect.

Her archive also includes work on enforcement tools such as red light and speed cameras, where she reports on decisions to expand traffic enforcement technology and the public reaction to it. Earlier in her tenure she produced general assignment and lifestyle pieces, including event listings and a video interview with an O’Fallon student offering advice after earning a perfect ACT score.

Over time, her focus has shifted firmly toward accountability reporting that ties local decisions and systems back to the conditions people experience in their homes, streets and neighborhoods.

Approach to sourcing and public service reporting

Cortes explicitly invites news tips from people who can describe harm in specific detail and provide documentation such as emails, photos or videos. She says she is most interested in issues that affect multiple people, signaling a focus on systemic problems rather than one-off complaints. Her guidance on tips emphasizes clarity about who has been harmed and what evidence exists, which matches the documentary and data-driven nature of her published work.

In her public description of her role, she stresses shining a light on local abuses of power, government failures and harm to citizens. Her author bio notes that she has won multiple state awards for investigative and community service reporting, and recent coverage of “Hazardous Homes” and diversity-related housing issues has earned additional recognition. Across beats that touch real estate, housing policy and local government, she writes in a straightforward, evidence-based style that foregrounds residents’ experiences and the records that back them up.