BH’er Casey Gordon continues to develop and diversify her apartment management skills.
Casey Gordon began her career at BH – her first job in apartment management – almost two years ago, facing a sink-or-swim situation at a newly acquired, somewhat understaffed community in Naperville, Ill., that was much in need of a facelift.
Casey, 31, has a degree in marketing with a focus on social media and business management from Bradley University. While those skills don’t directly relate to leasing apartments, she decided to give it a try.
“I heard from a friend who said they offered an employee discount on rent, so that made the opportunity even better,” she joked.
Today, she’s advanced her career as part of our move to centralized operations, serving as a screening specialist since August.
But at the start in Naperville, it was just Casey, a community manager, and a maintenance manager for this 321-unit community.
“It was busy and hectic right from the get-go,” Casey said. “I got on a lot of Zoom calls with leasing agents at other properties to help learn the processes.”
The property needed a lot of repairs – from the leasing office to the pool, the roof, the nearby roads, and the landscaping, she said.
“Gradually and steadily, things improved. The community received a lot of attention – in the BH way that we’re known for – and it became beautiful,” she said.
The community was transformed under our management, and it eventually stabilized – it’s now 98% occupied.
Concurrently, we were moving to a more centralized operations structure, as part of The Mint Experience, and that provided an exciting new opportunity for Gordon.
Screening Specialist: A Wildly Awesome Career Track
As a screening specialist, Casey works remotely, reviewing resident applications to help streamline that process and to help us spot inconsistencies in applications.
This position is growing, and two more screening specialists will start this month. “As the centralized screening department continues to grow, we can expect more specialists to be added to the department,” she said.
Casey receives applications to her email queue daily, which she checks each morning. She is part of a team that receives approximately 40 to 60 applications each day. After handling the new tickets, the team follows up on the tickets from the prior few days to check on their progress.
Applicants are checked for approval based on what they file with our screening supplier partner. If applicants haven’t registered yet, she sends them a link to do so and get the process started. The software matches the applicant’s face to their ID and verifies that the ID is legitimate.
Casey reviews applicants’ most recent two paystubs to see if there are any discrepancies.
“In some cases, I need to ask them for more information to verify,” she said. “It’s through this step in the application process that we verify their income. Verifying the legitimacy of income is important to prevent fraudulent renters, who often do not pay rent.”
By verifying applicants, she saves us time and money compared to cases where their stubs don’t check out correctly.
“I see a bright future for me in this position at BH,” said Casey. “I really enjoy the company. Everyone is so kind and helpful and fun to talk to. BH is one of the first to operate this way and it’s growing and adapting to better ways to manage apartments. There are a lot of new things on the way to help us operate even more efficiently.”
Casey said for any BH employees who are considering a screening specialist position – or any employment change at the company – they should find teammates who currently hold those roles and speak to them about what skills are required.
“By learning a bit more about what the position is all about, they can determine if it’s right for them,” Casey said.
For more information about open roles at BH, visit our Careers page.