As rental costs spiral higher, a growing number of companies are offering services that allow the monthly charge to be split up, which can make it easier for some tenants to pay.
The companies say they’re stepping into the breach where public policies for tenants don’t exist, but consumer advocates say the products are expensive at best and predatory at worst. And with no relief in sight for a years-long housing affordability crisis, the tension looks set to continue.
Roughly one-third of all American households rent, and half of them spend more than one-third of their income on rent, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. For many tenants, paying the rent all at once at the beginning of the month leaves them with no way to get by until the next paycheck arrives.
“It fundamentally comes down to a cash flow problem,” said Samir Goel, a co-founder of Esusu, one of the companies offering the service. “It's not that (tenants) don't make money, it's that the income they get and their expenses are basically in and out.”
In interviews, Esusu’s co-founder, Wemimo Abbey, often references his mother, an immigrant who works multiple jobs including occasional gig work, as an example of the company’s target customer.
