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We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

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Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#451

Post by bko »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #421
AJRF wrote: post #302

I recently moved house. I was previously living with my friend, and we had an agreement I pay sometime before the end of the month. He gave me a contract and said you'll need this, just because when you go to the next place they will ask you for your previous contract. He found it online, it was boiler plate and we agreed verbally I pay him whenever during the month. We we're really good friends, and I lived there fo…

> They said they couldn't override the software - which I don't believe at all. This is why I'm worried by - no, I hate - the automation of bureaucracy, governmental and business alike. Software is giving bureaucrats the perfect escape hatch. "I'm sorry, but The System won't let me". The System won't let a low-level clerk fix the mistake some algorithm made. You escalate to the manager, but The System won't let them…

> Software is giving bureaucrats the perfect escape hatch. "I'm sorry, but The System won't let me".

In the parent story, its in everyone's interest that the person was able to sign the agreement. Saying "the system won't let me" to screw him over makes no sense. There will always be overrides or discretion involved.

If anything an automated system would help people from getting screwed over. If you check all the system's boxes and someone still doesn't want to rent to you, maybe he's being biased based on a protected class. Without automation, someone can just make something up or just keep you in limbo or sit on your application

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#452

Post by rurp »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #422
gentleman11 wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All my online dashboards I deal with for various things are buggy and inflexible. Whatever the problem is though, you can usually phone a human who can fix it. If you get rid of humans, it’s just creating a nightmare

Want a sneak peek of the nightmare? Plenty of companies are now introducing conversational bots on their phone lines, desperately trying to prevent you from getting in touch with a human. And unlike traditional voice menus, pressing 0 or mashing the keypad doesn't work on them. I recently wasted a good 10 minutes trying to reach a flesh-and-blood consultant of a phone company, and I actually wanted to buy stuff from…

This kind of behavior should be unacceptable by companies whose services are essential, which definitely includes ISPs these days. If it's some company I can do without I'm really quick to drop them when I run into this sort of thing, even if it means going without something I want. I just hate giving money to sleezy companies.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#453

Post by gremlinsinc »

llampx wrote: post #385
compsciphd wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the average cabby can't buy a medalion, he therefore has to pay a fee to someone who owns a car with a medalion to rent the car for a period of time (+ probably paying the owner a percentage of his take). As opposed to using his own car and keeping everything that uber lets him to keep which might be less than what the medalion owner would have taken. hence, increase in money into pocket for the uber/lyft driver. wit…

The sharecropper / feudal lord model.

The American Dream Model.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#454

Post by astura »

literallycancer wrote: post #400
AJRF wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP here - Estate agent asked for 6 months bank statements, which I assume was requested by the referencing agency. I don't think is common practise in the U.K, but I asked around and lots of people told me it is more common that the larger agencies ask for it, plus it was for an apartment in a very competitive development so I feel like it might have been a forcing function to reduce the amount of applicants but that…

Why not ask the bank to confirm that you make enough, without revealing how much you make and your whole spending history?

Because nobody wants to rent to a difficult tenant.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#455

Post by lazyasciiart »

bko wrote: post #448
lazyasciiart wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am almost certain that Uber is more likely to obey disability laws than "Joe's taxi" with a few cars. Knowing the lawsuits from people who've been refused rides from a regular Uber because they have a service dog, or their wheelchair 'probably won't fit' (I think I can tell you whether the wheelchair I usually put in the trunk of a car is likely to fit in your trunk, thank you), I am not. But there are also speci…

Because people can actually sue Uber and they can get a lot of money and publicity. You can't sue Joe's taxi. I mean you could try, but I don't think people aren't suing because they are follow all applicable laws and regulations to a tee

You don’t have to sue Joe’s taxi, you complain to the regulators and they can lose their taxi license. Generally people aren’t suing because it’s expensive and a giant pain to do, which is why having a regulatory body that will handle this stuff is better for consumers than relying on court action.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#456

Post by thescriptkiddie »

nly wrote: post #336
AJRF wrote: post #302

I recently moved house. I was previously living with my friend, and we had an agreement I pay sometime before the end of the month. He gave me a contract and said you'll need this, just because when you go to the next place they will ask you for your previous contract. He found it online, it was boiler plate and we agreed verbally I pay him whenever during the month. We we're really good friends, and I lived there fo…

Why did you pay him on willy nilly days instead of just setting up a recurring standing order and being done with it?

I have my rent set up with automatic payment, and the date the payment actually goes through varies +/- five business days. My bank even warned be to set it to go through a week early.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#457

Post by rurp »

e1g wrote: post #129
benmanns wrote: post #111

We used this pre-COVID to get out of a Brooklyn lease and had a fantastic experience (back when it was Flip Instant). Flip basically charged 1 month rent and guaranteed a fill or they'd pay the rest (6 months) of my lease. Compared to our landlord who wanted 1.75x rent, up to 2.75x rent if not filled immediately, after significant negotiation. Hiring a broker myself would have likely cost 1x rent or more anyways with…

The landlord is under no obligation to accept anyone this service finds, so this startup guarantees an outcome they cannot control. It might be a way to build awareness and goodwill, but they are burning VC capital to offer a service that is either fundamentally unsustainable or mispriced.

I don't agree. The startup is guaranteeing that the customer won't pay more than one month's rent, which they very much can control. The company is on the hook in cases where they can't find a replacement, but that's not the customer's problem.

It's very possible that the service is priced too low in order to get traction, but there's nothing inherently unsustainable about taking on risk (with a reasonable cap no less); it just comes down to what the company's placement rate ends up being.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#458

Post by Ruthalas »

FourthProtocol wrote: post #419
AJRF wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP here - Estate agent asked for 6 months bank statements, which I assume was requested by the referencing agency. I don't think is common practise in the U.K, but I asked around and lots of people told me it is more common that the larger agencies ask for it, plus it was for an apartment in a very competitive development so I feel like it might have been a forcing function to reduce the amount of applicants but that…

I was asked for 12 months' worth of statements for a place I wanted to rent in Islington. I got them printed out at the bank, and then spent an entire day with a Sharpie and a ruler and redacted every payee and amount in each of those statements. The approved my rental contract without a peep. A potential employer once also wanted statements - I think 6 months' worth, and I did the same. HR pushed back but legal back…

What information did you effectively leave that they theoretically wanted to see? Simply activity on the account, or did you leave incoming pay unredacted?

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#459

Post by scythe »

xeromal wrote: post #382
subpixel wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Low profit routes were pretty much impossible to get pre-Uber. In cities, that's absurd - car services existed for decades serving just this part of the market, and they let you schedule in advance! In the suburbs and exurbs, probably less so, but this is where everyone has a car as a prerequisite for living in a house with a multi-car garage.

Something something rose-tinted glasses. You could schedule in advance. Now having them actually show up? That was debatable. lol

The first Uber I ever ordered was after I had scheduled a car with one of these services and it didn't show up.

Re: We replaced rental brokers with software and filled 200 vacant apartments

#460

Post by flipbrad »

IanCal wrote: post #370
AJRF wrote: post #302

I recently moved house. I was previously living with my friend, and we had an agreement I pay sometime before the end of the month. He gave me a contract and said you'll need this, just because when you go to the next place they will ask you for your previous contract. He found it online, it was boiler plate and we agreed verbally I pay him whenever during the month. We we're really good friends, and I lived there fo…

This is why there are or are incoming (long time since I've looked at the details) rules in the EU about fully automated decision making. It may not have covered this example, but it's a good reminder of the reasons why this kind of legislation exists. https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/refo... (edit - grammar)

The EU and UK GDPRs have these rules. In fact, they were in earlier data protection law as well.

Even if you don't understand or can't use (to your advantage) the rule on automated decision-making, you can still insist that data processing be "fair" - fairness is one of the fundamental rules of EU and UK data protection law, including in the current EU and UK GDPRs. Learn your rights!!

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