Will Smith and Jay-Z have invested in a start-up company that will support low-income renters into becoming homeowners.
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The company named Landis Technology is primarily focused on helping renters by purchasing a home for them and renting it to a tenant until they are able to qualify for a mortgage. The tenant has up to two years to purchase the home at a price. Roc Nation and Dreamers VC, Jay-Z and Smith’s companies, have invested in the startup after it raised $165 million and they plan to use the funds to purchase 1,000 homes. Landis also provides financial coaching to help clients build their credit and saving their money to purchase a home.
Founder Cyril Berdugo said in a statement that the company is proud of helping low-income Americans with creating wealth for themselves. ““Financial inclusion is really important to us. An aspect of Landis that we’re very proud to be a part of is wealth creation for low-income Americans. We make money when our client buys the house back. If we leave money on the table, that’s our problem,” he told Bloomberg.
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The company hopes to convert approximately 80 percent of its clients to become homeowners in the next few years.