AUSTIN, TX - Comunidad Partners, a minority and women-owned real estate investment firm that specializes in workforce and affordable housing in culturally diverse neighborhoods, has announced the success of a national partnership with Esusu, the leading financial technology company leveraging rent reporting and data solutions to help residents build credit.
The purpose of the partnership is to help residents establish credit profiles across Comunidad’s entire affordable and workforce housing portfolio. 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. As part of this partnership, Esusu and Comunidad Partners have provided residents with credit score visibility and the tools to cultivate financially healthy communities. Strong credit scores are critical to stabilizing personal finances, renting, and purchasing a home, and helping low- to moderate-income individuals and families access additional credit sources.
“Our core focus is on workforce housing communities in underserved markets across the U.S., which includes many minority communities that face systemic barriers to building credit,” says Managing Partner of Comunidad Partners Antonio Marquez, a second-generation Mexican-American whose father immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s. “Access to credit is near and dear to me given my father did not have a credit score immigrating to this country. No credit is often viewed worse than bad credit but that doesn’t mean they’re not creditworthy - it just means there is little to no access and, as a consequence, individuals who have not had the opportunity to establish credit tend to encounter greater obstacles preventing them from achieving the American dream,” says Marquez.
Esusu’s co-founders, Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel, are also from families who immigrated to the United States without a credit score. That experience inspired them to start Esusu.
More than 45 million Americans don’t have credit scores, and millions from underserved communities are marginalized due to their background, race, and zip code.
“For at least a century, we’ve been taught that the American dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born, should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative,” says Marquez. “The American dream is often unattainable for many, especially in minority and immigrant communities, and it's our goal to reverse this and aid in making the pathway to homeownership more attainable for all.”
Marquez adds, “We are incredibly proud of the opportunities this initiative has provided to residents thus far. In fact, since our partnership with Esusu began in 2021, we have seen 71 percent of our residents’ credit scores increase and the establishment of 731 credit scores across our portfolio.”
“Comunidad Partners has a comprehensive approach to investing in diverse communities, ensuring that their distinctive portfolio is a market leader in integrating ESG principles,” say Samir Goel and Wemimo Abbey, Co-Founders of Esusu. “These initiatives provide all residents with access to quality housing and social impact services across economic advancement, youth education, health, wellness, and more.”
Goel and Abbey add, “This partnership with Esusu will directly address unlocking financial opportunities for residents with every rent payment. With one of the highest resident retention rates in the United States, Comunidad Partners understands the importance of giving residents access to financial services and products that enhance their lives and keep them in their homes, while opening doors to homeownership opportunities in the future.”
Comunidad Partners takes a holistic approach to investing and incorporates social programs and services within its apartment communities to address equity issues, notes Marquez.
“The partnership with Esusu is an extension of this approach. It will play a pivotal role in our residents’ daily lives and contribute to the long-term performance of our properties,” explains Marquez. “By investing in residents, we can create communities with lower turnover, longer retention, and stronger property performance over time.”
About Comunidad Partners: Comunidad Partners is a dynamic, vertically-integrated real estate investment firm specializing in workforce and affordable housing in culturally diverse communities throughout the United States. The firm is proudly 100% minority and women-owned and heavily focuses its investments activities on positively impacting communities through its ESG practices and its corporate culture of diversity, equity, & inclusion. The firm has been a market leader in ESG for over a decade and received national recognition on its ESG practices from Fannie Mae, SAHF/CORES, and recently was named Freddie Mac’s Impact Sponsor of the Year. Core to its investment strategy is creating culturally-relevant, inclusive communities that are tailored to the specific needs and wants of the diverse residents living at the communities it serves. For more information, please visit comunidadpartners.com
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.. Learn more at www.esusurent.com and follow us on Facebook @myesusu and on Twitter @getesusu.