New Gig Economy Player: Eviction Crews For Hire

Ashwin Rodrigues introduced a new player in the gig economy: Civvl, which promises big money for working eviction crews.

During a time of great economic and general hardship, Civvl aims to be, essentially, Uber, but for evicting people. Seizing on a pandemic-driven nosedive in employment and huge uptick in number-of-people-who-can't-pay-their-rent, Civvl aims to make it easy for landlords to hire process servers and eviction agents as gig workers.

Civil is getting the word out about its platform by announcing job openings on Craigslist, according to Rodrigues, with phrases like "be your own boss," and "flexible hours," and "looking for self-motivated individuals with positive attitudes."

Rodrigues has anticipated the possibility that Civvl might be some kind of online prank, but also found evidence of the app's connection to am existing gig economy company called OnQall, which develops on call service apps like LawnFixr, CleanQwik, and MoveQwik. 

The article puts the existence of Civvl in context of the patchwork system of of eviction moratoriums and tenant protections in place around the country, while implying obvious sympathies for those struggling to hold on to housing during the multiple intersecting crisis—housing, economic, and public health—in the United States right now.