Multifamily Tech Talk with 20for20

In this episode of Tech Talk with 20for20, Dom Beveridge is joined by Sam Stein (Snappt), Vitaliy Merkulov (Renter, Inc.), and Amanda Cox (President and COO of Bellaire Multifamily Management) to explore why verification of rent (VOR) is returning as a core part of screening—and what modern technology now makes possible.

The conversation covers:

• What is VOR and how does it help? How VOR uses prior-landlord records to reveal late payments, balances, damage, notices, pets, early terminations, and evictions that never reach credit files.

• Why VOR nearly disappeared—and why it’s back: The old landlord-to-landlord phone call broke down as site teams became mobile and harder to reach.AI-driven outreach (calls, texts, emails) and call-center support have restored completion rates to 75–80%.

• The operator’s view: mitigating risk and easing workload: How Bellaire turned around a distressed portfolio, using VOR to uncovere 25 undisclosed evictions, 61 outstanding balances, and hundreds of late pays—none of which were in the standard screening.

• What VoR has to do with fraud detection: 5–10% of VOR results conflict with what core screening reports and 5–7% of reference contacts are provably fake

• The critical difference between ability to pay and willingness to pay, and why it matters for screening

Sponsors for this episode:

Western Reporting, resident screening and income verification  by Inhabit

EliseAI, AI-driven automation that helps streamline communications and improve operational efficiency.

To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].

Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

S4 E06: Beyond “Fraud” - Underwriting the Resident Lifecycle

In this episode of Tech Talk with 20for20, Dom Beveridge speaks with Copley Broer, co-founder and managing partner of Sunriver Capital Partners, about why multifamily’s fraud and screening challenges are really questions of risk management. Broer—whose firm invests in and operates PropTech and FinTech companies including Vero and Rhino/Jetty—shares how he sees the sector evolving toward integrated underwriting and smarter, data-driven decision-making.

The conversation covers:

• From “fraud” to “risk”: Fraud prevention is only part of a larger risk spectrum that includes employment loss, delinquency, and insurance exposure. The future of screening looks more like dynamic risk underwriting than static yes/no approvals.

• The Vero acquisition: Sun River’s investment reflects a belief that screening is the “jumping-off point” for everything in leasing—where real data first enters the system and where better underwriting can transform performance.

• Dynamic risk pricing: Borrowing ideas from credit and lending, Broer argues that multifamily will move beyond blunt screening thresholds toward smarter, flexible assessments that keep occupancy high while managing risk responsibly.

• Integrating insurance and screening: Products like deposit alternatives and loss-of-employment coverage reposition risk rather than simply filtering it out—creating stability for operators and affordability for residents.

• Consolidation and opportunity: The leasing-to-onboarding workflow remains fragmented. Sun River’s strategy focuses on connecting screening, risk, and insurance tools into cohesive, product-first ecosystems.

Sponsors for this episode:

Western Reporting, resident screening and income verification  by Inhabit

EliseAI, AI-driven automation that helps streamline communications and improve operational efficiency.

To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].

Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

Multifamily operators face a growing tension: how to build strong fraud protection without creating too much friction in the application process. In this episode of Tech Talk with 20for20, Dom Beveridge brings together Christopher Cunningham (RPM Living), Steve Carroll (Findigs) and Mark Fiebig (Payscore) to discuss how operators and suppliers are finding the right balance between screening depth and user experience.

The conversation explores:

• Active vs. passive fraud prevention: Active methods (like bank linking, ID scans, and liveness checks) are now standard, while passive data checks run quietly in the background to flag inconsistencies.

• Friction as a feature: The goal is “easy for good actors, difficult for bad ones.” Controlled friction helps deter fraud without derailing conversions.

• Balancing integrations: Some platforms run as standalone experiences (Findigs), while others embed directly in property management systems (Payscore), giving operators different control and UX trade-offs.

• Resident experience: Prospects are increasingly comfortable with digital screening tools and bank linking—but only if the process feels fast, secure, and seamless.

• The metrics that matter: Operators track not just fraud caught, but also eviction rates, conversion times, and occupancy impact to measure real value.

• Centralization and training: As screening moves into shared-services teams, success depends on keeping workflows simple, results reliable, and associates focused on leasing—not document review.

Sponsors for this episode:

Western Reporting, resident screening and income verification  by Inhabit

EliseAI, AI-driven automation that helps streamline communications and improve operational efficiency.

To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].

Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

Document fraud is now one of the fastest-growing sources of bad debt in multifamily—and the tactics are getting more sophisticated. In this episode of Tech Talk with 20for20, Dom Beveridge is joined by Bonnie Smetzer (Asset Living), James Stilwell (Snappt) and Jamie Borodin (Docuverus) to examine how document fraud works, why it has accelerated, and what operators need from modern verification tools.

The panel explores:

• How document fraud has evolved: AI-assisted forgeries now mimic both the visual layout and metadata of pay stubs and bank statements, replacing the crude edits of earlier years.

• The dual lenses of detection: Effective systems combine deep metadata analysis with visual and contextual checks—plus secondary sources such as bank deposits—to identify tampering or fabricated income.

• Market dynamics: Fraud clusters in hotspots like Atlanta, Texas, and Florida before spreading outward, with serial applicants testing defences across regions and property types.

• A new challenge in affordable housing: Applicants are now lowering stated income to qualify for restricted-rent units, adding compliance and revenue risk alongside traditional inflated-income fraud.

• The operational burden on site teams: Writable PDFs and online applications outpace what leasing staff can reliably evaluate, creating fairness risks and driving adoption of automated screening.

Sponsors for this episode:

Western Reporting, resident screening and income verification  by Inhabit

EliseAI, AI-driven automation that helps streamline communications and improve operational efficiency.

To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].

Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

Income verification sits at the heart of fraud prevention—and it’s getting harder. In this episode of Tech Talk with 20for20, Dom Beveridge is joined by Sarah-Jane Milliren (Aldon Management), Mark Fiebig (Payscore) and Tim Ray (Verifast), to unpack what income verification really involves, why it’s so technically complex, and how it’s changing with the rise of gig work, open banking, and automation.

The panel explores:

• The five income types: Payroll, government benefits, gig work, side-hustle deposits, and assets—all with different levels of reliability and verification methods.

• Bank linking vs. documents: Direct bank access provides faster, cleaner data, while documents remain necessary for certain edge cases. The best systems use a waterfall approach that blends both.

• Fraud prevention through transparency: Fraudsters often self-select out of processes that require real bank connections—making direct access itself a deterrent.

• User experience and adoption: Renters are increasingly comfortable linking bank or payroll accounts, and companies find the process improves speed, accuracy, and trust.

• Algorithmic judgment: Modern tools don’t just verify deposits—they interpret patterns, distinguish recurring from one-off income, and adjust for market and property-specific policies.

Sponsors for this episode:

Western Reporting, resident screening and income verification  by Inhabit

EliseAI, AI-driven automation that helps streamline communications and improve operational efficiency.

To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].

Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

Fraud and bad debt are connected, but not identical. In this episode of Tech Talk with 20for20, Dom Beveridge speaks with Steve Carroll (Findigs), Kyle Nelson (Snappt), and Nate Thompson (Morgan Properties) about how fraud drives bad debt, and how smarter policies, metrics, and market awareness can keep both under control.The panel explores:

• Where they overlap: Many evictions stem from fraud, but some bad debt comes from life events or overly rigid screening policies.
• Better policies: One-size-fits-all rules like “three times rent” don’t work everywhere. Operators are using local data to fine-tune risk and approval criteria.
• Evolving fraud patterns: Organized fraud targets fast-growing lease-ups in Sunbelt markets—but is spreading into new regions through “fraud-as-a-service.”
• Friction vs. experience: Post-pandemic systems block more fraud but can frustrate honest renters. Smarter “fast-lane” screening helps balance both goals.
• Measuring success: Early payment behavior—especially in the first 90 days—is the best leading indicator of fraud and future bad debt.

Sponsors for this episode:

Western Reporting, resident screening and income verification  by Inhabit

EliseAI, AI-driven automation that helps streamline communications and improve operational efficiency.

To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].

The takeaway: analyze evictions, act on your data, and never lose sight of the renter experience. “You can eliminate delinquency,” says Nate Thompson, “but you’ll eliminate occupancy too if you’re not careful.”

Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

This season of Tech Talk with 20for20 begins with a fundamental question: why is fraud such a difficult problem for multifamily operators to solve? Dom Beveridge is joined by three experts, Jamie Borodin  (Docuverus), Mark Fiebig (Payscore) and Tim Ray (Verifast), to break down what makes this problem uniquely complex, and why so many operators underestimate it.Fraud prevention, they explain, is not a single task but a constantly moving target shaped by technology, incentives, and human behavior. The discussion explores:

• The fundamentals of fraud - understanding the difference between first-party, third-party, and synthetic fraud, and why most issues stem from falsified or edited documents rather than stolen identities.
• Managing acceptable risk - the balance between minimizing bad debt and maintaining occupancy, and why different asset classes require different levels of strictness.
• Technology philosophies - the divide between document-first and bank-linking-first approaches, and why most effective solutions use both to separate the “fast lane” for good applicants from slower lanes for those who need deeper scrutiny.
• The growing challenge of organized fraud - how social media, AI tools, and “fraudpreneurs” have industrialized deception.
• Why we need specialist providers - what are operators getting from their best-of-breed providers that they can’t get from their PMS or platform suppliers?

Sponsors for this episode:

Western Reporting, resident screening and income verification  by Inhabit

EliseAI, AI-driven automation that helps streamline communications and improve operational efficiency.

To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].

Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

In this new season, we are returning to the topic of fraud prevention.

In the 18 months since interviewing all of the best-of-breed fraud providers for Season 1, much has changed both in the technology world, and with the nature of the problem.

This season includes nine episodes, each covering a specific topic that multifamily operators should understand about fraud prevention, featuring conversations with some of the leading experts in the industry.

Episode 1 drops next week - make sure you've subscribed to Tech Talk with 20for20 so you don't miss an episode!

In this episode, Dom sits down with Tyler Christiansen, CEO of Funnel, to unpack the second annual Funnel Forum—an event built around centralization, automation, and AI in multifamily operations. 

Dom and Tyler reflect on how the event has evolved, the value of structured discussion for operators navigating change, and how Funnel is positioning its technology strategy for the future. Key topics and takeaways include:

• Funnel Forum’s origin story and purpose

• How this year’s content evolved

• The centralization challenge for third-party managers

• The growing role of contact centers

• How human and AI collaboration is evolving

• Why deal flow is holding back innovation—and what happens when it returns

• Funnel’s latest moves in AI: Phoenix and Sierra

• And finally, a preview of next year

Other reading mentioned in the pod:

• Dom’s write-up of the event: “The Funnel Forum Frames the AI-Human Handoff”

• The 20for20 white paper: “Centralization for Third-Party Management” researched in collaboration with Funnel

This season of Tech Talk with 20for20 is brought to you by our season sponsors are ⁠⁠⁠⁠Snappt⁠⁠ - Fraud Detection .To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].
Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

In this year's 20for20 Annual Survey, we once again asked six leading companies to share a viewpoint about some important aspect of operations and technology. This year, we released a video in which leadership from each company advocates for their viewpoint.

This is a GREAT way to get an explanation of six powerful new insights from companies at the cutting edge of multifamily technology. The viewpoints are:

1. Donald Davidoff, CEO of Real Estate Business Analytics (REBA) presents a new framing of analytics as a lever for control over property performance.

2. Daniel Berlind, CEO of Snappt explains how to think about the increasing complexity of fraud and the layers of capability required to combat it. 

3. Jacob Kosior, VP of client strategy with EliseAI describes some of the growing number of examples of how voice AI improves experiences throughout the customer lifecycle.

4. Matt Baird, CTO of AppFolio considers the trade-off between simplicity and complexity in tech acquisition and why it matters in the AI-enabled world.

5. Hope Dunleavy, Enterprise managing consultant at RealFoundations brings a historical perspective on centralization, urging operators to think rethink the “place” in the changing workplace.

6. Michael Lightfoot, CEO of Domuso showcases real-world results from companies using rewards to influence resident behavior and improve experiences. 

Don’t forget to download your FREE copy of this year’s 20for20 Annual Survey. 

Also mentioned in the episode is “How Data Transforms Multifamily Property Management” the REBA Business Intelligence White Paper.

To get access to the latest 20for20 articles, papers and news about forthcoming events, subscribe to our blog at 20for20.com.

Connect with Dom Beveridge (Principal, 20for20) via LinkedIn, or email to [email protected].
Our theme, “Beautiful Geometry” by Phish Funk is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.