Letter from the founder 

I moved to the US to pursue graduate studies and explore everything a new country and city had to offer. With the excitement and passion for exploring new cities, food, and cultures; I were not aware of how daunting the apartment-hunting process can be especially for International people. I thought, what could go wrong? This is just a rental?

Listings I found online were fake, and rent prices were misleading. Brokers didn't show up for viewings and ignored calls and texts. Scammers would request fees before signing the lease. It was also extremely competitive: we quickly learned that for every apartment, there were at least five people seriously interested. As an international renter with no U.S. credit score and no social security number, I was immediately rejected by most brokers. In other cases, I was asked to pay one year of rent upfront just to secure the apartment.

In this system, I found a lack of transparency, and communication was inconsistent, slow, and unprofessional. The process was full of “gotcha” moments, and after several weeks of apartment hunting all my excitement was gone.

I decided there must be a way to do this better. I often asked questions like: Why are broker fees one month’s rent? Why do I have to carry our furniture every time we move? Why is the apartment application process harder than applying to Harvard? Why? Why? Why?

The current system screws over landlords just as much as it does tenants. From the fees charged by middlemen to the risk of one non-paying tenant causing an owner to default on their mortgage payments and lose their life savings. If a property owner can't afford to hire a middleman to manage their property, they are actively managing things themselves 24/7/365. The American dream of owning a rental property for passive income remains to be just a dream.

I decided to build a company that would reinvent this antiquated, broken system. All the years renting across different parts of the east and the west coast of the US I tried to understand the system across the country and the origins of its requirements and rules. I wanted to determine: where are the opportunities to improve this system that can improve the lives of both tenants and landlords?

So, I built LA Empire; not a broker, not a management company, and not a landlord. I am creating a new category entirely. LA Empire is a new-generation housing company that provides furnished and flexible housing in a seamless process with NO BROKER FEE.  Reinventing the antiquated housing experience for the new generation of renters and landlords.

As a tenant of LA Empire, you can expect fully transparent processes and fees, quick and professional communication 7 days a week, fair resolution of any issues, and simple user-friendly digital interfaces.

As a landlord with LA Empire, you can expect industry-leading data at your fingertips, significantly better property performance than market, efficient and proactive communications, and a reliable partner that has skin in the game that you can trust.

To the LA Empire investors who have backed our bold vision and believed in our ability to change one of the oldest and most conservative industries in the world, thank you. We are working tirelessly to make you proud.

To the LA Empire team members spread around the world working tirelessly to redefine the apartment renting experience for our customers, thank you. We are a young company, we are still growing and we make mistakes, but I know for sure that our diversity, curiosity, and dedication, will allow us to achieve our mission.

On to a better way of apartment renting,

— Ankit Lodha