About the client
Umbrello is a U.S.-based fraud prevention and identity verification platform tailored for the multifamily housing industry. Its mission is to surface fraud risks early in the rental process—giving leasing teams the tools they need to make fast, confident decisions while reducing operational overhead.
The company was incubated by JARS Capital, a U.S. venture studio that supports early-stage startups with funding, engineering, and operational expertise. As part of JARS Capital, we at Element 14 led the end-to-end development of the Umbrello platform, working closely with the founding team to bring the product to life.
The company was incubated by JARS Capital, a U.S. venture studio that supports early-stage startups with funding, engineering, and operational expertise. As part of JARS Capital, we at Element 14 led the end-to-end development of the Umbrello platform, working closely with the founding team to bring the product to life.
Fraud and misinformation are increasingly common in the apartment rental industry. Leasing teams need a way to proactively assess risk—before spending time reviewing applications or progressing unqualified leads.
The project
We needed to build a platform that could verify identity in real time, evaluate financial and rental background data, and flag suspicious patterns—without adding friction to legitimate renters. It had to be fast, accurate, scalable, and secure.
We joined the project early and led the platform's technical evolution, working closely with Umbrello, we built and scaled the core infrastructure, with a focus on flexibility, compliance, and speed.
We joined the project early and led the platform's technical evolution, working closely with Umbrello, we built and scaled the core infrastructure, with a focus on flexibility, compliance, and speed.
Our approach
- Engineering the full platform architecture, covering frontend, backend, and integrations with tools like Clear, and Plaid.
- Connecting with data providers to surface risk signals from ID validation, eviction records, credit history, and renters insurance information.
- Designing a fast, mobile-first experience that helps renters complete their screening with clarity and ease.
- Setting up continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines and monitoring, ensuring performance, scalability, and reliability as the platform grew.
- Building up a fully SOC 2 compliant platform, implementing secure development practices, infrastructure controls, and monitoring standards to meet rigorous data protection and operational integrity requirements.
Umbrello now screens thousands of rental prospects each month, helping teams identify risk earlier, speed up decisions, and offer renters a seamless, mobile-first experience.
Here's what we made possible, together:
2+
hrs/day saved per leasing team
<6
months to launch MVP
1st
in industry with Clear
100s
flagged risky renters blocked