Sramana Mitra: There’s a reason I’m asking you about Seattle. Jeff Bezos has committed some significant amount of money to address homelessness in Seattle. I imagine that is something that is being tapped into to deal with their situation. Is that a model that can be scaled throughout the country? Given the size and scale
Karthik Manimozhi: In many cases, the whole framework is working as designed. The problem is, it leaves too many people outside of the framework. We are looking at our range of landlord portfolios going to affordable housing where we expect a lot more support from local counties. They also have a responsibility to protect the
Sramana Mitra: The COVID incidence is not a fault of their own. It’s a market failure. The question is, what happens after January, for instance when the eviction moratorium expires. COVID is not done. The economic impact is pretty dire. Karthik Manimozhi: It is. This is where different people take different routes. The renters are
Sramana Mitra: If I understand correctly, what’s happening right now is that the mortgage companies are giving some relief to the property owners and the property owners are giving some relief to the renters. Then you have all the other factors like credit card payments and deferred payments that are getting saturated in this market.
Karthik Manimozhi is CEO at RentMoola, delves into a powerful opportunity for FinTech to make a difference for those facing eviction by their landlord.
Karthik Manimozhi: COVID has created some real structural and institutional issues. Certain sections of the population are disproportionately affected by COVID than others. What we’ve seen is three waves hitting the rental market.
COVID-19 has disrupted people’s lives in unprecedented ways. The world is facing the prospect of mass homelessness as people have lost their jobs and face eviction by their landlords. https://www.sramanamitra.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/462nd-1Mby1M-Entrepreneurship-Podcast-With-Karthik-Manimozhi-RentMoola.mp3 This discussion delves into a powerful opportunity for FinTech to make a difference.