How Unified Residential Cut Collections Costs by 80% While Improving Performance

About Unified Residential Management

‍Unified Residential Management operates multifamily communities across Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, and Washington. As a people-first company, Unified's mission has always been to create great living experiences while empowering their teams to thrive. But as their portfolio expanded, the operational complexity of managing collections became unsustainable.

The Challenge: The Collections Crisis

Before Zuma, Unified faced a collections crisis that was affecting both their bottom line and their team morale. In an effort to modernize operations, they attempted to centralize their rent collections process, eliminating 18 assistant property managers across their portfolio and consolidating delinquency management into a single central team. The transition quickly broke down. "We tried to centralize before Zuma, and it was a big failure," said Dalia Kalgreen, VP of Business Development. "We had let go of all our assistant managers, and the workload on the central team was overwhelming. Communication between the onsite teams and central collections was scattered, and our collections rates plummeted."

• Manual, Fragmented Processes: The centralization team couldn't keep up with hundreds of delinquent accounts across multiple states. Missed memos and poor visibility led to accounts falling through the cracks.
• The Human Toll of Collections Work:  "It's hard to ask people to pay rent," Dalia explained. "Nobody likes being told they owe money, and people were ghosting us left and right." Even when staff could keep up with the volume, the emotional burden of collections work was significant.
• Performance in Freefall: At their Memphis property, collections had dropped to just 80% of billed rent. Across the portfolio, delinquency rates were climbing, and the model was on the verge of collapse. Unified needed to either abandon centralization entirely or find a completely different approach.

Solution: Kelsey, Collections AI

Collections AI solved what had seemed impossible: centralization without chaos. Unified had previously attempted to centralize collections but failed without the right technology. With Kelsey handling the consistent touchpoints and uncomfortable conversations, they successfully centralized their delinquency team reducing staffing needs while dramatically improving results. 

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According to Dalia Kalgreem, "I'd used chatbots before but this wasn't a chatbot. This was an intelligent, agentic workflow that actually understood context. Kelsey is polite but persistent, and she matches the resident's tone. She really is our best collections rep." The struggling Memphis property jumped from 80% to 95% collections in Kelsey's first month, proving that the right AI could transform what human teams couldn't scale alone.

What sets Kelsey Collections AI apart:

• Empathetic, Persistent Communication: Kelsey handles rent reminders, payment nudges, and delinquency follow-ups with the right balance of politeness and persistence. She matches the resident's tone and keeps conversations natural and non-confrontational.
• Around-the-Clock Coverage: Unlike human staff, Kelsey never sleeps. She engages residents at the moment they're most likely to respond—whether that's during business hours or at 11 PM on a Saturday.
• Seamless Integration with Yardi: Kelsey integrates directly with Unified's existing Yardi system, eliminating the need for new logins, workflows, or manual data entry. Everything flows automatically between systems.

The Results With Zuma:

The Numbers That Matter:

• 95%+ automated collection rate across portfolio: Within the first month at Memphis, collections jumped from 80% to 95%. Portfolio-wide, Unified now maintains a 96% average collection rate.
• $1M+ in recovered revenue year-to-date: The combination of higher collection rates and fewer write-offs translated directly to the bottom line.
• 80% reduction in collections staffing costs: Unified eliminated 18 Assistant Managers and now successfully operates with just 3 central collections agents managing the entire portfolio, an 85% reduction in headcount.
• 6x increase in central team efficiency: The three-person team now manages what previously required 18+ staff members, thanks to Kelsey handling the high-volume, repetitive touch points.

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The Impact: Proof of Kelsey's value

The impact extended beyond just numbers. By automating the uncomfortable, repetitive work of rent collection, Unified freed their property management teams to focus on what actually builds value.

Zuma didn't just make centralization work, it made it scalable. Unified now manages rent collections for their entire portfolio with a three-person team, achieving better results than they did with 18 assistant managers.

The benefits go far beyond cost savings. The system now provides the data integrity, auditability, and accountability that weren't possible with manual processes. And perhaps most importantly, it gives on-site teams the capacity to do what they do best: build community.

A Focus on Community: 

Unified freed their property management teams to focus on what actually builds value. "Now our teams are hosting more resident events, connecting with people, and creating real community. AI can't do that. But it gives us the time to."

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Team Adoption: 

“Everyone wanted Kelsey. She just runs in the background and feeds our teams everything they need all seamlessly integrated with Yardi." And the proof of Kelsey's value came from an unexpected place: the leasing reports."The thing I care most about is how the teams feel. They love her. They literally put Kelsey's name in our leasing reports as if she's another team member."

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Centralization without Chaos:

With Kelsey handling the consistent touchpoints and uncomfortable conversations, Unified successfully centralized their delinquency team, reducing staffing needs while dramatically improving results. The struggling Memphis property proved that the right AI could transform what human teams couldn't scale alone.

The Bottom Line: A Unified Future

Kelsey's introduction marked a turning point for Unified Residential Management. What started as a four-property pilot quickly became a company-wide standard, and one that redefined what modern property management with AI looks like.

"Kelsey doesn't just save time, she transforms it. Our teams are stronger, our residents are happier, and our properties are performing better than ever."

Unified now manages rent collections for their entire portfolio with a three-person team, achieving better results than they did with 18 assistant managers. The benefits go far beyond cost savings—the system provides the data integrity, auditability, and accountability that weren't possible with manual processes. And perhaps most importantly, it gives on-site teams the capacity to do what they do best: building community.

Unified's story proves what's possible when AI and humans work side by side automating the busywork so people can get back to what matters most, people-to-people focused hospitality. Ready to transform your collections? See how Kelsey Collection AI can work for your portfolio. Schedule a demo.