HomeScreen 2.0 - New Features and Partnerships Bring Even Greater Access to Housing in St. Louis

For Immediate Release:

HomeScreen is a non-discriminatory, Fair Housing-compliant tenant screening service developed by the Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation. The service is available free of charge for any landlord looking to find and maintain good tenants. Explains Ella Gross, Tenant Screening Manager for TGNCDC, “We have long believed that engaging landlords in quality tenant screening can benefit their tenants and help stabilize neighborhoods.”

Using the most current and comprehensive credit data through Equifax, HomeScreen conducts a national criminal background and national eviction search, verifies all references listed by the applicant and conducts soft credit checks that do not impact consumer credit scores. HomeScreen first launched in 2014 and has been used by over 7,500 applicants and 600 landlords.

HomeScreen 2.0 launched in March of this year and includes several improvements such as a simplified application process, real-time updates and a mobile-friendly application that make it the most comprehensive tenant screening available while remaining accessible and easy to use. Judah Hebisen, a local landlord, describes his experience, “Homescreen 2.0 has helped me in selecting tenants by streamlining and simplifying the screening process for me. The new software is easy and intuitive, which helps make the screening process simple and as stress-free as possible.”

The new version features an opportunity for applicants to participate in free one-on-one financial coaching session with local non-profit, Prosperity Connection who has four locations in the St. Louis area and has been coaching since 2012.

This year’s upgrade also incorporates an important new partnership with financial tech start-up Mobility Capital Finance, Inc. This brings to HomeScreen convenient and reliable rent collection online and through local MoneyGram stores and monthly rent reporting to Equifax so that on-time payments translate to higher credit scores for tenants. Wole Coaxum, Founder and CEO of MoCaFi, enthuses, “We believe this partnership represents the next phase of innovation to help emerging communities thrive and fulfill what increasingly is a human rights issue – access to affordable housing – and brings the future to communities who are striving for safety and stability in housing.”

Contact    Ella Gross
Phone      314-865-5530 ext 102
Email       ella@towergrovecdc.org
Website   www.myhomescreen.org