New Alpaca Field Study: Rent Collections & Eviction Solutions
Authors: Brian Downs, Daniel Fetner & Ryan Freedman
We’re excited to announce the start of our latest Field Study: Rent Collections and Evictions Solutions for Landlords.
At Alpaca, we are always exploring tech-focused solutions that alleviate major pain points and inefficiencies in the built world. In this instance, we’re looking for new ways to help landlords prevent delinquency amongst their tenants, facilitate rent collections, and streamline the eviction process. With this new study, we’re diving deeper into this important area to find answers to the following questions:
What does the market for rent collections and evictions solutions look like today and where is it headed?
What are the biggest pain points and challenges for landlords and tenants?
How can technology help solve these issues?
With over 100 million apartment residents and $500 billion in annual rent payments, the Real Estate industry in the United States faces unique challenges when it comes to collecting rent and handling evictions (TechStartups). It’s estimated that 78% of tenants still make their monthly payments through physical checks or money orders, meanwhile, the communication process between owners and property managers is largely manual (TechStartups). These traditional methods can be time-consuming, unreliable, and costly, and with the current COVID-19 crisis exacerbating rental difficulties for landlords and tenants, it’s more important than ever to find innovative solutions that will increase collections percentages and reduce the cost of evictions.
With technology rapidly advancing in real estate, there is growing demand to implement more effective processes in all phases of leasing an apartment. This is especially the case in eviction proceedings, which cost landlords between $3,500-$10,000 per unit for legal fees, court filing costs, repair bills, and lost rent (Transunion).
Meanwhile, only 3% of tenants have an attorney during evictions (compared to 81% of landlords). The financial and emotional toll of displacement is often overwhelming (National Coalition for the Civil Right to Counsel). Therefore, eviction prevention is the common goal for all stakeholders as landlords seek new tools to make it easier to pay rent and increase transparency — an outcome that we believe will be a win-win for both owners and renters.
Over the next few months, our team will be exploring this exciting and important market, gathering insights and data, and engaging with thought leaders, founders, and investors. We’re eager to share our findings when the study is complete, and we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges in this space.
If you’re a founder, investor, or thought leader on the topic, we encourage you to reach out and connect with us.
You can email Brian directly at BrianD@alpaca.vc.
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