Interviewer: What was the original purpose of
OpenRoom, and what prompted you to decide to create it?
Weiting : Back in 2021, I wanted to grow my
family so I wanted to move back into my tenanted house. I was pregnant and kept
negotiating with my tenants but they told me “no I am not moving out and I am
not going to pay rent anymore either”. I lost $35,000 in rent payments waiting
for the LTB (Landlord and Tenant Board) to issue an eviction order I got the LTB orders in my hand and knew they
were supposed to be made available for the public. I turned to my husband and
said, “we build software for a living. We need to do something about this.” That’s where we set out for a vision of a
transparency and connected rental ecosystem. It started with me sharing my 5 court orders
in the OpenRoom Court Order Search Engine. OpenRoom now holds over 40,000
records of the most recent and relevant tenancy disputes across Canada for you
to do searches for potential tenants with unpaid rent and prior evictions. We
also have court orders about maintenance or bad faith evictions that help renters
make more informed decisions about a future landlord.
We are proud to have over half a million
people see the work we do. We have been featured in numerous news sites such as
the CBC. Interviewer: What kind of change or
experience do you want OpenRoom to bring to users? What social or industry pain
points does it solve that you have observed?
Weiting : We have a housing crisis.
Small scale landlords are so scared of the tenants who don’t pay rent and
damage properties. These landlords have the most affordable units that could be
rented such as a basement unit. They won’t want to rent them out anymore or
thousands are leaving the rental business. Because
realistically, why would they risk it? If
affordable supply is low, yet demand for affordable housing continues to grow -
then price will continue to rise. This
hurts the good renters out there.
We
hope to be part of the solution to the housing crisis.
（Left：Weiting
Bollu Right: Jia Qi LI） Interviewer: What are the most challenging moments you have
encountered since the founding of the company, and how did you overcome them? Weiting : One of the most
challenging moments is not being able to help the landlords who are in deep
financial and emotional turmoil due to nonpayment of rent tenants. Over
the last 2 years, I’ve learned about the numerous loop holes that exist in the
Canadian rental industry when one doesn’t pay rent. It
is scary, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen. As
the CEO, I personally take phone calls from landlords when they need help
because they have a tenant who doesn’t pay rent. So many of them are in extreme
pain. I’ve been in their shoes a few years ago - and I couldn’t see the light
at the end of the tunnel. I just felt so helpless by the law. This
is why we push hard to continue the work we do. We have so much to build after
learning about so much of the problem in the rental industry. Interviewer: How does OpenRoom maintain
the balance between creativity and execution? Does this conflict with privacy
protection? Weiting :Canada’s Open Court
Principle allows court orders to be publicly available for everyone to see.
But, it’s not publicly accessible for all easily. We
made residential tenancy court orders extremely accessible. We don’t allow
reviews of landlords or tenants, we simply ask you to share your court order
with us. In
fact, we work with many legal representatives - paralegals to lawyers to former
adjudicators. Even Sheriffs and government officials to ensure we are above the
law in everything we do. We
have unlimited creative ideas, it’s more about which ones we prioritize first! Interviewer: Is OpenRoom multilingual?
What is the current annual maintenance cost? Weiting: OpenRoom operates first and
foremost in English. Multi-Language is coming soon - especially to the East
Asian family and friends! Interviewer : In terms of rebuilding the
relationship between tenants and landlords, is there a particular idea you want
to convey? Many
people get into being a landlord and think it’s passive income. That is far
from the truth. You need to learn about your rights and responsibilities. As
a landlord, you need to take care of your rental property because your tenants
are your customers. Your customers deserve a well maintained property and
deserve to be treated well. In
return for the goods and services rendered by the landlord, the tenant needs to
pay rent. OpenRoom
is here to hold bad actors accountable for their actions, and help reward those
with great actions. Interviewer : Does OpenRoom have a
section for landlords? How is it used? Weiting :Using OpenRoom is easy! Go to
Openroom.ca > search by name or address > see court order results show,
if there are results. You
should always read the court order to make more informed decisions! Interviewer: In the next 3-5 years, what
are your development plans or dreams for OpenRoom? Weiting : In 5 years: We aim to
educate landlords and tenants to avoid pitfalls. When you encounter a tough
tenancy situation, you should immediately know what your options are, and where
you can find help. Let’s bring back the confidence in small landlords and great
tenants! In
addition, we know that rent makes up the largest portion of most people’s
paycheque. Those who have shown a verified history of making rental payments
should be rewarded with an easier time finding their next rental or securing
their next mortgage. We believe in rewarding the great responsible players
within the rental ecosystem. Interviewer: Do you have any good
stories about OpenRoom to share with us? Weiting :In January 2024, CBC
journalist found out about us. We went viral across Canada when the article
dropped about us being a BAD TENANT LIST. Anyhow,
doesn’t matter what they called us because we then made a fundraiser to ask 100
strangers on the internet to donate $100 to us. We had over 100 supporters in
48 hours. “Crazy!” we thought. Shortly
after that, both my husband and I quit our jobs to build OpenRoom. “Definitely
wild” we thought. Needless to say, but there are always good stories at OpenRoom
that you can follow in our newsletter at newsletter.openroom.ca. I share behind
the scenes stories and insights related to the rental industry and about OpenRoom! |
