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Justice Capitalist
Information on a selection of rental payment companies, credit improvement companies, renter rights companies and rent loan companies has been summarized below and provided in the project spreadsheet.
Rental Payment Companies
- RentTrack is an "online rent payment platform that helps residents get the credit they deserve for paying rent." Residents can pay their rent online with multiple payment methods and choose if they want their rent payments reported to the credit bureaus or not. The corporate name for RentTrack is LevelCredit. Whereas RentTrack provides the service for renters from property managers (i.e. large landlords), LevelCredit provides that same service for renters from small landlords.
- RentPayment "is the largest electronic payments processor in the multifamily industry." The platform allows for renters from large property managers to pay their rent online using various methods, including credit card.
- PlacePay, owned by i3 Verticals, LLC, is a rental payment and management platform providing services to residential and commercial rentals that makes it easier for residents to pay rent and for landlords to track those payments and manage their rentals. Renters can pay rent with a credit card or bank account, can set up auto pay, and can split rent with roommates.
- Avail is an online platform designed to help independent landlords manage their properties and grow their rental business. They also help improve the rental experience for renters by providing a rental profile, so renters can share with multiple landlords as they look for a rental, online rent payments, rent credit reporting, online leases, and maintenance tickets.
- Till helps renters stay current on rental payments by analyzing their cash flow to create an intelligent rental payment schedule, breaking rental payments down into multiple payments per month.
- For tenants, RentRedi helps tenants apply for rentals, pay rent with cash, credit or debit card, report maintenance issues to landlords, buy rental insurance and have their rental payments reported to credit bureaus. For landlords, RentRedi is a mobile-focused rental management app.
- Cozy is a rental platform for landlords that allows landlords to list their rentals, screen tenants, and collect rent for free. For tenants, Cozy allows renters to pay their rent online, reports rent payments to credit bureaus, and creates a renter profile showcasing their rental history to help them find future places to rent.
- Zego is a mobile-first platform for property management designed for multi-family properties, property developers and homeowners associations. Zego allows renters to pay their rent with e-check, debit card, credit card, digital wallet, or cash, and provides rent credit reporting.
Credit Improvement Companies
- Perch Credit allows users to build their credit history by reporting recurring expenses, such as rent, cable, and other subscription services to the credit bureaus.
- Experian Boost allows consumers to instantly boost their credit score by directly linking utility, telecom and certain streaming service payments to their credit score.
- Credit Karma "allows users to track their credit score by offering a comprehensive credit score and financial management platform. The service offers free credit scores and reports from national credit bureaus TransUnion and Equifax." They also provide many personalized financial management suggestions and offers, all completely free.
- ExtraCredit is a service by Credit.com that provides users with 28 different FICO scores (based on what lenders actually see), credit reports from all three credit bureaus, the ability to report rent and utilities payments to the credit bureaus, identity protection, cash rewards, and credit repair advice.
- Esusu Rent helps renters report their credit to credit bureaus with or without the cooperation of their landlords. They also have a fund for rent relief for renters affected by COVID.
- Self helps consumers build their credit history through credit builder loans.
Renter Rights
- JustFix.nyc is an app that provides free tools for NYC renters to obtain information on their property owners, protect themselves from evictions, request maintenance, and take landlords to court.
Rent Loans
- LendUp provides direct short-term loans designed to help people meet their short term needs.
Research Strategy
The research team was unable to find many companies advertising "rent loans". In looking for companies that are primarily dedicated to providing rent loans, the research team found that most sources advised to avoid utilizing a loan to pay rent whenever possible. Instead, they suggested, tenants should speak directly with their landlords to create a payment plan, try to obtain rental assistance from state and local governments or nonprofits, and even borrow money from friends and family. Additionally, the research team found that true "rent loans" do not really exist. Instead, a rent loan is a “term loan” or “installment loan" that the borrower utilizes to pay rent. This is also sometimes called an emergency loan or personal loan. As such, most companies offering these types of loans advertised them as emergency or personal loans, and not just loans for rent payments. They also had a larger target audience than simply those late on their rents. Aside from personal term loans, other options that renters late on their payments may consider are payday loans and title loans. Making rental payments with a credit card is also an option.