If you received an unsolicited text message about a free service offering to check the public record of your house or landlord, would you respond?
What if you were a renter without much money and debating whether you should withhold next month’s rent because needed repairs aren’t being done? Or if the house next door is unmaintained and affecting your own living situation?
For many Detroit residents, replying to that sort of out-of-the-blue text might be worth a shot. When I first texted the service of Outlier Media, within a minute I was informed about what it does, how I could use it, and (after a prompt to send an address) that the Outlier database didn’t have records on the building I was interested in (the Motown Museum). Seconds later, Outlier had asked me if I needed more information about housing, inspections, or utility shutoffs. And though I didn’t ask for a follow-up, 51 minutes later Sarah Alvarez, the founder and lead reporter on Outlier, had answered my query manually. (The museum’s address has $1,249.24 in taxes due from 2016 but is not on the tax auction list, I’m told.)
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