Housing stability is the foundation of our communities
Hello
Yesterday I read the NY Times article on what "home" means to the homeless. One of the homeless people interviewed spoke about the importance of water. She said the little things you don’t think about become important. I couldn’t agree more - in every way. I often say that if I have water, I can live anywhere. In these times, whether thinking about water or our next meal we are reminded that the lowest rung on the Maslow scale is important to everyone. I cannot stop thinking about the research around housing. It turns out that stable housing is one of the most important predictors of almost everything else: financial, physical and mental health. It predicts likelihood of getting or keeping a job and is the foundation of our communities.
Those in the industry know the research and have raised alarms in this post-Covid era. Two of the most respected organizations in the industry, NMHC and Urban Institute, as well as Julian Castro, (former Secretary of HUD under Obama) have recommended that Congress creates a $75-100B rent relief fund that would be used for “direct relief”. The leaders in the real estate industry are having to rethink almost everything. At this stage, there are more questions than answers:
What will happen to our iconic cities?
Will the suburbs become more appealing or will people want to spread to more remote areas?
With rent strikes emerging across the country, what is the future relationship between landlords and renters?
We had a homeless crisis before. What happens now?
At its core, the EppoPay landlord/renter product transforms the rent-collection model. The financial structure of the product is good for both landlords and renters. The relationship and two-way communication is central to the concept. And payment smoothing allows renters to have more payment flexibility in response to increasing income volatility. EppoPay does not solve our deeper economic problems. But, the solutions we offer are needed now more than ever. We continue to race toward our target launch date.
We plan to launch with real landlords and real renters by the summer! The EppoPay promise is real. We want to help both sides because that is the foundation of good communities. And when we say we’ll do something, we mean it! Once we launch, we will add more landlords and renters. No matter how big we get, we will continue to listen to our community.
You are a really important part of our community. Most of you have been following us since the beginning. Some of you are already investors and all of you have expressed interest in our future. These next few months are going to be very exciting. By the beginning of June we will have completed our second and final round of Friends & Family fundraising. Call us if you want in.
Please stay safe and healthy,
Leslie
Leslie Hyman
Co-Founder and CEO, EppoPay™
9 May 2020
