US Landlords Deploy AI Chatbots as Digital Concierges
US landlords are increasingly using AI chatbots to manage tenant requests, though some residents report failures during emergency maintenance situations.
Landlords across the United States are adopting AI chatbots as digital concierges to automate tenant requests and administrative tasks. At the Park La Brea apartment complex in Los Angeles, management implemented an AI chatbot named Liv to handle maintenance and routine inquiries.
Tenant experiences with the technology are mixed. Some residents report that the AI improves response times for routine issues, such as reporting hallway flooding. However, others describe critical failures during emergencies, including one resident who stated the chatbot hung up on him during a ceiling leak, making it more difficult to contact human staff.
Jorge Barro, an economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center, identifies this as a broad industry trend. He attributes the shift to staffing shortages and a desire for efficiency in handling low-stakes requests, though he maintains that human intervention remains necessary for complex problems.
