As rental vacancies spike in New York City amid the coronavirus pandemic, a mobile app called Openigloo is launching to give tenants a helping hand choosing their next apartment. 

"Landlords are eager to fill empty apartments, so for the first time tenants can take a breath," Allia Mohamed, CEO and co-founder of Openigloo, told Cheddar. "They can take longer than 10 minutes to make a decision."

The app will combine open-source data with first-hand information sourced directly from tenants about their landlords and buildings. 

"Tenants can go onto the platform, search for their address, anonymously leave reviews, but also access real-time city data about their buildings, so things like open violation data, bed bug complaints, eviction history, and more," said Mohamed, who got the idea for the app after enduring her own difficulties securing an apartment in the city's notoriously tight market. 

Much of this public data comes directly from the municipal agencies, she added, that collect a significant amount of information about the housing market but don't organize it in one place. 

"One of the great things about New York City is it's really sophisticated in the way it organizes the data about apartments and landlords, but unfortunately it's spread to various different data sets," Mohamed said. "We've taken out a lot of the guesswork." 

This could include information about a building's cleanliness, pest control, heat, and water pressure. Comments could also address how a landlord is managing the coronavirus pandemic, in terms of building safety measures or even lease terms for those economically impacted. 

The outsized rent burden in New York City, where more than 44 percent of tenants pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent, is also a selling point for the startup.

"We really want to make sure that we're giving tenants as much information as possible before they make a really big financial decision," Mohamed said. 

Share:
More In Business
Starbucks’ Change Flushes Out a Debate Over Public Restroom Access
Starbucks’ decision to restrict its restrooms to paying customers has flushed out a wider problem: a patchwork of restroom use policies that varies by state and city. Starbucks announced last week a new code of conduct that says people need to make a purchase if they want to hang out or use the restroom. The coffee chain's policy change for bathroom privileges has left Americans confused and divided over who gets to go and when. The American Restroom Association, a public toilet advocacy group, was among the critics. Rules about restroom access in restaurants vary by state, city and county. The National Retail Federation says private businesses have a right to limit restroom use.
Trump Highlights Partnership Investing $500 Billion in AI
President Donald Trump is talking up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and could reach five times that sum. While Trump has seized on similar announcements to show that his presidency is boosting the economy, there were already expectations of a massive buildout of data centers and electricity plants needed for the development of AI.
Load More