Ofo Ezeugwu wants you to like your landlord. His new start-up, Whose Your Landlord (he explains about the Whose vs. Who’s here), rates landlords, allowing you to ensure you don’t get a stinker when you sign your rental contract.
Ezeugwu, who went to Temple University and is an “actor and model, & former licensed life, accident, and health insurance producer,” hopes to “address the interpersonal side of the rental search process and producing transparency between renters, property managers, and landlords.”
“I was running for the VP of Temple’s student body during my junior year (2012). At one of our late night meetings, we were discussing ways to help students with off-campus living. I thought aloud, ‘what if students could rate their landlords, that way those coming in behind them would know what to expect before ever signing a lease?’ The students loved the idea and our team eventually won the campaign with, at the time, “Rate Your Landlord” on our platform,” he said.
The service rates landlords based on tenant opinions. Bad landlords get dinged while good or mediocre ones are noted. Ezeugwu won our TC Radio pitch-off last night on Sirius XM 102 Indie.
The company raised $25,000 from friends and family and an additional $20,500 from pitch competitions. The site is live and has 40,000 users.
“We use the possessive form of the word “who” because we’re giving renters ownership of their situation by putting housing in their hands. Here at WYL, we truly believe in the concept that knowledge is power. The ability to move word of mouth onto an online platform that can be of more use in highlighting positive people to work with and revealing negative situations prior to you finding yourself in one is tremendously needed,” he said.