“I’ve learned that no matter the asset type, providers want the same three things: they want to move faster, they want to increase revenue, and they want to reduce bad debt.” – Michael Brown

Michael Brown, CRO of RentButter has spent 25 years in PropTech and SaaS, building and leading sales and revenue teams at CoreLogic, Safefront, Onsite and Inhabit. His vantage point across multifamily, single family, affordable and manufactured housing revealed a universal truth: the way we screen renters often excludes the very people who consistently pay their rent. RentButter was born to challenge that.

“An equitable screening and verification solution goes far beyond credit-based data to find good renters who will pay and stay regardless of their credit scores.” – Michael Brown

Credit scores are not the only problem; rigid screening processes choke opportunity for both operators and renters. Traditional models block near-prime and subprime renters who may actually be reliable, shrinking the pool of applicants while fueling bad debt. Add fraud into the mix and property managers are left juggling both offensive and defensive battles without the tools to win.

“One of the ways we’ve addressed that is a product that lets operators rerun applicants with new selection criteria in real time helping them manage decline rates, take on incremental risk and still stay fair housing compliant.” – Michael Brown

RentButter layers identity, employment, income stability and fraud detection into a full verification engine. This approach doesn’t just reduce bad debt; it expands the pool of qualified renters, boosts frontline revenue and creates more equitable access to housing. It’s about finding the right leading indicators and not just lagging results like evictions. Empowering site-level teams with smarter criteria that actually match their market realities.

“The seller who wins is the one who best positions their champion to pitch your solution that succinctly captures the why.” – Michael Brown

Rent Butter empowers its champions for internal pitching by providing a product that speaks for itself. The platform demonstrates its value by revealing missed revenue opportunities from renters who were unfairly declined by traditional methods. This inherent ability to quantify lost revenue and highlight potential gains helps champions create alignment, accountability, and momentum for change within their organizations, even in the absence of a salesperson.

“Know your company’s OKRs, anchor your goals to them, always be learning and be consultative. If you’re just pitching, good luck because buyers nowadays are smart.” – Michael Brown

Michael wrapped with advice that resonates far beyond sales: align your goals with your company’s, treat the CRM as your ally and never stop learning. Most importantly, adopt a consultative mindset. That means listening first, framing conversations around why change matters and helping both buyers and team members get to their own version of “Hell Yes!”

Action Items & Follow-Up Questions

• If you are in the affordable segment; audit your current renter screening criteria: Are you missing opportunities in the 500–680 credit score range?
  
• Calculate the true cost of bad debt in your portfolio. Does it linger silently until it explodes on your P&L?
  
• Reframe discovery: Are you asking prospects what they’ve tried and why it failed before seeking tech?
  
• Align your personal OKRs with your company’s then check. Does your CRM reflect that alignment?
  
• Follow-up question: What leading indicators could you track today that would give you earlier, fairer insights into renter reliability?