The Income Disruption Risk Every Operator Screens For But Nobody Protects Against

A resident can pass screening, have a perfect payment history, do everything right—and lose their income tomorrow. Then the impact moves quickly: late rent, bad debt, collections, turnover, vacancy, and difficult conversations for property teams. In this episode of INSIDE The Vendor Network™, Yovonne Kenny sits down with Kait Feeney, Co-Founder and CEO of Denzen, to explore a risk rental housing spends a lot of time screening for—but rarely protects against after move-in: income disruption. After experiencing layoffs herself and later advising companies through terminations and reorganizations as a labor and employment attorney, Kait saw firsthand how quickly a paycheck disappearing can change someone's financial reality. That experience ultimately led her to build Denzen—a financial safety net designed to protect both sides of the lease and loan. 🎙️ In this episode: • Why screening only captures a resident's financial position at one moment in time • How income disruption can become an NOI and bad-debt problem • How Denzen provides up to three months of rent forgiveness • Why the solution is different from guarantor and split-pay products • How income protection can become a resident experience and retention advantage • Why reducing difficult collections conversations can also help onsite teams • What it took for Kait to bet on herself and build Denzen The bigger idea is simple: life keeps happening after the lease is signed. Protecting against what happens next could create greater stability for residents, stronger operations for owners, and a very different experience when the unexpected happens. This episode is presented by Palisade™ Shower & Wall Systems. Subscribe to INSIDE The Vendor Network™ for more conversations with the people and companies shaping the future of rental housing. #InsideTheVendorNetwork #Denzen #RentalHousing #ResidentExperience #PropertyManagement #Multifamily #SFR #BuildToRent #NOI #EverResi Timestamps: 0:00 — Trailer 1:06 — Welcome & Introduction 4:36 — Getting to Know Kait 7:08 — Kait's First Layoff & the Housing Reality 10:27 — Sitting on Both Sides of the Table 12:53 — The Origin Story — What Actually Sparked Denzen 14:39 — Quitting a Stable Job to Build Denzen 16:21 — Trevor Said "Bet on Yourself" 21:07 — What Is Denzen & How Does It Work? 23:45 — How Denzen Is Different From Guarantors & Split Pay 26:19 — The Gap Denzen Is Filling 29:39 — Does This Work for Mortgages Too? 30:49 — The Life Insurance Analogy 36:48 — Helping Operators Be the Hero of the Story 40:24 — What Does Onboarding Actually Look Like? 42:25 — Can You Offer This to Existing Leases? 45:07 — What Changed From How They Originally Built This 46:48 — Lightning Round 48:14 — Where to Find Kait & Closing