18 months | 135k lines of code | 5 PhDs | thousands of false positives later…
we have an answer – a renter is much more than their credit score.
Today we celebrate 300 happy families who rent a home in a community they love, thanks to Beekin. The zip codes for these properties reflect high crime rates, low college attainment levels and the distribution of credit scores is poor.
Experian’s 2012 analysis shows that your zip code can influence your credit score, and that’s a bias in society which fintechs are arbitraging by giving loans to people.
As we look back on Riskpro, our workforce housing product, which picks great residents from screening rejects, we can’t help but feel proud. The residents approved through Riskpro performed great compared to those approved by a traditional credit score-based screening approach.
Moreover, given the areas where Riskpro is deployed (low-income Midwest), it provides affordable rental housing to the Nation’s workforce (employment data is a positive input in credit performance and Riskpro’s approach).
Particularly relevant at this time, as there is understandable outrage against racism and attitude towards minorities. It is in times like these, where we remind ourselves that science can build a better society. Such as giving someone a home to live, when a 60-year-old credit score deems them unworthy.
Every day, machine learning, mathematics, and data help us better understand space, medicine, online shopping. The same toolkit can remove biases and build efficient markets where few exist.
To every data enthusiast we know – think hard about using your toolkit to solve problems. The end goal is beautiful.
As we look back on our 18 month journey for Riskpro, the Beekin analytics and engineering teams send thanks to – Dr. Marina, Prof. Tony, Dr. Christian, and Chao. Your efforts at applying science to everyday problems have paid off. Big socially distant pat on the back since COVID-19 makes everything else impossible.
And finally, to all the Riskpro residents – you will never know who we are, but we hope you enjoy your stay.
For more details on Riskpro read our 2019 paper here
