AI not meant to replace human touch
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when property owners in the city first started incorporating AI into their businesses, but it’s been at least a few years.
These days, housing advocates say it is increasingly common for renters — existing and prospective — to use artificial intelligence to complete property management tasks that were traditionally handled entirely by humans.
In some buildings, AI processes rent payments and makes maintenance requests. Property managers also use it to respond to renters looking to schedule a building tour, as well as during the application process.
“Prospects want an immediate response. And generally, that’s who they’re going to go with — who responds quicker,” said Kelli Tomczak, vice president of property management at the HOW Group.
The company, which operates 25 apartment buildings in Philadelphia, also uses customized AI software to send reminders to delinquent renters, and to field questions and requests that may require a work order so a repair can be scheduled.
In most cases, the technology is used to start tasks that are ultimately handed off to someone on Tomczak’s team.
“We’re not trying to essentially replace people,” Tomczak said. “We’re just trying to reduce the amount of tasks our people have.”
That’s particularly true for repetitive administrative tasks.
For now, AI is mostly being adopted by larger property management companies in Philadelphia.
Steven Chintaman, vice president of government affairs for the Pennsylvania Apartment Association, said the property managers his group represents are turning to AI to make their businesses more efficient.
That way, he said, they can free up staffers to focus on tasks that require human judgment. That includes responding to and resolving tenant complaints and disputes, as well as issues tied to screening prospective renters and prioritizing maintenance requests.
“We expect the role of technology to grow, but housing remains a people-centered business first and foremost,” Chintaman said. “We’re always going to require our employees to have that human relationship, that relationship building, that one-on-one conversation with our property management companies and our renters.”