Rent.com Overview

Rent.com is the nation's #1 Internet listing site (ILS) in the rental housing industry, enabling renters to find a residential rental property online using a free robust search tool. Rent.com has the most online traffic annually and the largest inventory of contracted property listings.

Renters can search the site's detailed property listings, including contact information, pricing, photos, floor plans, and virtual tours. With the ability to directly contact property managers, finding the rental housing of your dreams is as easy as 1-2-3.

In addition to providing renters free access to detailed property listings and robust search tools, Rent.com rewards renters with a $100 prepaid Visa® debit card if they: (1) find their property using the Rent.com website, (2) tell the property owner or manager they found their rental home using Rent.com, and (3) report to Rent.com signing a lease with a property that participates in the $100 Reward Card Program.

Our pay-per-lease business model allows managers with 50+ units per property to cost-effectively fill their vacancies. In addition, managers of properties with 1-49 units can pay a flat fee to list their properties on Rent.com for up to 60 days. With our detailed activity and performance reports, managing your property listings is easy.

Rent.com is dedicated to giving renters a convenient way to find the perfect place to live and building innovative tools that bring renters and property owners together.

Company History

In April 2000, founders Scott Ingraham and Allan Hunter launched what is now the Rent.com site as Viva.com, with headquarters in Santa Monica, CA. By November 2000, Viva Group, Inc. had raised $17 million in funding, led by seven of the largest apartment real estate investment trusts.

The following May, the Rent.com domain name was purchased, and six months later, in October 2001, the site was relaunched as Rent.com. Ten months after the relaunch on the Rent.com domain, the company turned cash flow positive.

By October 2004, Rent.com was the most visited national ILS and that December was acquired by eBay. The eBay acquisition of Rent.com was effective in February 2005 and by that summer the site had reached 3.5 million unique visitors per month.

Rent.com mailed its 1 millionth $100 prepaid Visa® debit card in November 2008.

In March 2012, PRIMEDIA, Inc., a leading vertical search company in the rental sector, entered into an agreement with eBay Inc. to acquire Rent.com.