Berkadia announced today that it signed an agreement with Esusu, the leading financial technology company leveraging rental data for credit building. This partnership unlocks greater equity for renters, improves property performance for multifamily owners and operators and reduces lender risk.
With a mission to dismantle barriers to housing for working families, Esusu reports on-time rent payments to the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Transunion, and Experian, to establish and boost credit scores for residents. The collaboration, which launched in the Spring of 2021, has expanded to over 34,000 units, establishing over 5,300 credit scores for residents to date.
“We could not be happier to have a multi-year agreement with Esusu, which allows Berkadia to extend a powerful property performance enhancing solution to our clients, This will help owners and operators reach their own ESG goals at an exceptional value and support Esusu’s critical and innovative objective–helping renters build and improve their credit.”
- Bryce Nyberg, Director of Berkadia Digital
Partnering to Provide Value and Solutions
Seeing the value Esusu could bring to the entire residential ecosystem, a partnership was formed when Esusu joined Berkadia’s inaugural BeEngaged program in February 2020. The partnership has proven to be mutually beneficial and has helped Berkadia develop a competitive advantage as an attractive funding source to owners and operators who value Esusu as both an economic and social solution.
Through Berkadia’s introduction, Esusu services over 285 properties across more than 10 management companies including Burbank Housing, Comunidad, Eagle Property Capital, Morgan Properties, Odin Properties and more.
As a workforce housing provider operating primarily in the inner city, Odin Properties has long been focused on supporting quality of life for our residents, In Esusu, we found a solution and a team that helped further that goal by allowing residents unprecedented access to the financial system, while improving property performance. It has been encouraging to see Esusu grow as their message rightfully resonates with so many different housing stakeholders, said Phil Balderston, Founder & CEO of Odin Properties LLC.
Supporting an Equitable Housing Market
Throughout the partnership, there has been growing industry awareness around the criticality of equity in multifamily housing. This was further emphasized when Esusu announced a collaboration with Freddie Mac.
Through their joint initiative in support of increasing equitability in the housing market, Freddie Mac provides closing cost credits to multifamily borrowers who agree to use Esusu to report on-time rental payments. Esusu also provides discounted pricing for these and other Freddie Mac borrowers who agree to report on-time rental payments through the platform.
Our credit building initiative has helped build or establish credit scores for tens of thousands of multifamily renters nationwide, It is an essential component of our effort to build a more equitable multifamily housing system, said Corey Aber, Vice President of Mission, Policy and Strategy for Freddie Mac Multifamily.
Utilizing Real-Time Data for Returns
Esusu not only improves the quality of life for residents but also helps properties maximize net operating income (NOI). By adding Esusu to Berkadia’s expansive network, borrowers can see scalable social impact results–credit score increases, new established scores, eviction prevention–as well as economic returns through improved rent collections, reduced delinquencies and renter turnover, and thereby healthier cash flows.
We are grateful for our long-standing collaboration with Berkadia, The firm took an early bet on Esusu through their BeEngaged program which has paved the way for Esusu’s proliferation throughout the marketplace. Berkadia has shared our vision from day one and their foresight has led to adoption by other lenders and sponsors throughout the industry. Together, we will continue to create a world-class experience for their sponsors while taking tangible steps towards dismantling barriers to housing and bridging the racial wealth gap, said Samir Goel and Wemimo Abbey, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Esusu.
About BeEngaged
Launched in 2019, the BeEngaged program advises and accelerates startups that are redefining the commercial real estate industry by providing them with resources, strategic counsel, and a collaborative network to test and grow innovative concepts. Since then, the organization has accelerated more than a dozen CRE tech startups, including Esusu.
BeEngaged features three stages to foster innovation and collaboration across the commercial real estate industry: BeEngaged Network®, Verified Status, and the BeEngaged Lab®. The BeEngaged Network® develops an ecosystem of founders, industry professionals, and capital providers dedicated to redefining the commercial real estate space. Companies participating in the BeEngaged Network® that have proven potential for long-term growth and industry transformation can be invited to seek Verified Status (VP). This stage provides company founders with focused mentorship for validating strategic alignment to participants of the BeEngaged ecosystem through experiments and pilots. Successful VP companies are invited to join BeEngaged Lab®, which is a catalyst for founders and Berkadia to collaborate on long-term initiatives.
About Berkadia®
Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group, is a leader in the commercial real estate industry, offering a robust suite of services to our multifamily and commercial property clients. Through our integrated mortgage banking, investment sales and servicing platform, Berkadia delivers comprehensive real estate solutions for the entire life cycle of our clients’ assets.
About Esusu
Esusu is the leading financial technology platform that leverages data solutions to empower residents and improve property performance. Esusu's rent reporting platform captures rental payment data and reports it to credit bureaus to boost credit scores. This allows renters to build and establish their credit scores while helping property owners mitigate against initiating evictions, powered by differentiated data and insights. Founded in 2018, Esusu reaches over 2.5 million rental units across all 50 states in the U.S.