Morehouse College Student Team Wins Zillow’s HBCU Hackathon

Team Househouse’s application predicts rising rent and utility costs at a particular address over time.

By Mary Salmonsen

Team Househouse from Morehouse College won first place at Zillow’s HBCU Housing Hackathon: (L-R) Paul Lockett, Joshua Curry, Grant Commodore, Kendall Camp and Cameron Heard, program manager, equity & belonging at Zillow. Photo courtesy of Morehouse College Courtesy Morehouse College

A team of four students from Morehouse College has won first prize and $20,000 in Zillow’s HBCU Housing Hackathon. Organized in partnership with the United Negro College Fund, Black Tech Ventures, and Amplify 4 Good, the event drew together 49 teams from 17 historically Black colleges and universities to create tech solutions and aids for struggling renters and first-time buyers.

Six of the teams advanced to the final round, where they each had five minutes to present their ideas virtually to a panel of judges. Morehouse College’s Househouse team, which includes Kendall Camp, Grant Commodore, Joshua Curry, and Paul Lockett, presented the “Reliby” app, which uses machine learning to predict future increases in rent and utility costs at a particular address over time.

The program offers users a view of potential future affordability challenges and provides a “stability score” to highlight increases in living expenses that may emerge in coming months or years.