No doubt about it, moving into a new city is a life-changing decision that feels both exciting and scary. There are lots of things we need to bare in mind, such as rent, the cost of living, the liveableness of the city, the type of area you want to live in, the community, and the neighborhood.

All these concerns can cause quite a headache. On top of that, you decide to live the co-living or roommate-living lifestyle, now you have to ask yourself where you’ll find a good roommate match that is compatible with my lifestyle. Where you can get along and become friends in all sorts of situations. This can become very special, especially in the big cities.

You start searching everywhere. You go to Facebook, you go to Craigslist, and you explore. But then you hear about rental scams. You hear all about it and read about it on an ongoing basis. You decide to start searching for a more legit, specialized roommate & room finder. This way, you have peace of mind and security that there is a safety net for your roommate search.

We will define the difference between both platforms and let the consumer decide which one is a better platform for your lifestyle. You work hard for your dollar and want to find something user-friendly, safe & secure that you are confident will work with your lifestyle.

iROOMit vs. Roomster: Which one is better for your safety, integrity, & your hard honest money earned?

Let's describe Roomster

As we write this blog, we found out all over the Internet about the lawsuit that’s been dropped on Roomster’s lap by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

The Roomster Lawsuit

The lawsuit that has been filed to the federal court, along with the attorney general of New York state, California state, Florida state, Colorado state, Illinois state, and Massechusets state, states that Roomster is guilty of paying for and promoting fake reviews and listings in their platform.

They are accused of:

• Posting fake listings
• Paying for fake reviews
• Saying listings are verified with no verifiable information

Based on this information from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), Roomster has posted fake positive reviews, claiming to offer verified and authentic listings. These listings turned out to be phony, simply to attract paid users. They do not have a moderation system in place to make sure that they review listings and that they are legit and scam-free. Plus, the pricing is very high:

• $29.99 for 1 month
• $59.99 for 60 days
• $14.99 for ID verification

AppWinn was the company Roomster paid to post fake iOS and Android app store reviews from thousands of fake iTunes and Google Play accounts. The fake reviews distort the marketplace and make it hard for the consumer to make an informed decision. The deceptive tactic brought lack of integrity and honesty into the marketplace (according to the Federal Trade Commission).

Roomster misrepresents that it offers verified listings, when in fact the company does not verify the listings or ensure they are authentic, based on the report from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

iROOMit Roommate & Rooms Finder

With confidence we can say that iROOMit is a better roommate & room finder app/website alternative to Roomster.

iROOMit was created from passion, to help people find a place called home, regardless if it’s a small room, large room, shared apartment or a whole place. It has an emotional attachment to the CEO, Kal Merhi. Himself he was a refugee for over 20 years. He knows the meaning of home, hard work and honest earning.

iROOMit is based on creating a trusted, safe & user-friendly community to help people come together. IROOMIt reviews each single listing to make sure that it is safe & scam-free. At iROOMit, the only listings we announce are verified is when the owner of the profile has gone through our ID verification system, where a valid government ID and live photo is required. (No scanned IDs or photos!)

At iROOMit, from the start we educate our roommate community about rental scams, discrimination or abusive use of the platform. This behavior can be reported instantly and our response is immediate. Our customer service is primo. We respond to any concerns of our community users within less than 24 hours. Our phone line is always open to any concerns they may have.

The features in our app/website helps our community to communicate via chat or video with other community users. Our prices are carefully chosen by searching the market:

• $6.99 for 7 days
• $14.99 for 30 days
• $19.99 for 60 days
• $4.99 for ID verification

Our community users can conveniently create a credit report or background check instantly to make their profile more trustworthy.

At iROOMit, we encourage the renter/landlord to have their ID verified thanks to our partnership with Certn, to make their profile trustworthy & legit.

Thanks to our partnership with Stripe, our community users can pay their rent via Stripe, with confidence that they are protected.

Now you can make a decision on which is the better platform, where you feel you can trust, secure, safe & user-friendly. We believe in our core in the freedom of choice, with no misinformation, manipulation or conducting misinformation. At iROOMit, we are totally transparent & vulnerable.

To your health & success,

iROOMit Team