Multifamily Executive — Funnel and BH Management partner and process first rent payment inside ChatGPT, signaling next step for agentic AI in multifamily

Funnel, a customer relationship management and agentic artificial intelligence (AI) platform for multifamily operators, touts the completion of the first rent payment processed using ChatGPT. The milestone was achieved in partnership with leading multifamily owner and manager BH Management and, according to Funnel, marks a major step toward bringing agentic AI to property management workflows.

The exercise is a proof of concept, emphasizing that rent can be paid where renters already are spending time—ChatGPT or other large language models (LLMs). Through Nestio, Funnel’s resident portal product, renters can securely connect their account inside ChatGPT and complete actions without leaving the conversation.

“AI assistants have become the default operating system many consumers rely on every day, and renters increasingly want to stay in those environments to manage their homes,” says Funnel CEO Tyler Christiansen. “By partnering with Funnel to make the first rent payment inside ChatGPT, BH Management has shown how property management companies can meet renters where they are by maintaining the security, controls, and workflows operators need to run a healthy business.”

Christiansen adds the main impetus behind the exercise is that consumer behavior is shifting quickly in the world of AI, and the multifamily industry needs to meet renters where they are. The proof of concept also comes after ChatGPT announced it was going to start experimenting with e-commerce late last year.

According to Christiansen, this payment feature will be built this year—probably in the second half, unless customers raise their hands to get it sooner.

“This is a great opportunity to be a first mover. We don’t anticipate seeing a huge adoption in the first year or two; much like in the first decade of online payments, it wasn’t huge adoption,” he notes. “This feels similar to me of early online payments, so we wanted to dip our toe into the water.”

He adds that Funnel believes adoption will take off eventually because, while most renters pay online today, the process isn’t truly “set it and forget it.”

“The majority of renters are logging in every single month, looking at that balance, and making the payment. We can already, via ChatGPT and Funnel, ask what’s my balance and then authorize the payment. So we think that it’s probably less friction than going into the app,” he says. “I think it ultimately is going to be a question of: Do I spend more time in apps, or do I spend more time in my LLM tool? And if I am [spending more time in LLM tool], I’m probably going to start getting comfortable with that experience.”

This first rent payment in ChatGPT also establishes a controlled path toward future agentic resident services over time and how it will reshape renter interactions.

“Technical innovation is core to delivering a simple, convenient experience for renters,” adds BH Management CEO Joanna Zabriskie. “The Mint Experience, our branded approach to the resident experience, is about removing friction from everyday moments and making interactions with BH feel intuitive, modern, and human-first. Paying rent inside ChatGPT is a perfect example of that philosophy in action. Instead of asking residents to learn a new tool, we are meeting them where they are and making one of the most routine parts of renting faster, simpler, and more aligned with the tools and technology people use in their everyday lives.”

Christiansen says this is just the start, with Funnel building the brains of the software in a way that correct information can be published into the LLMs—from payments and applications to work orders, renewals, and mid-lease changes.

He notes that renters are already asking about apartments in their preferred LLM tool.

“Why not give them the right answer, and why not let them do the thing you want them to do anyway? We want them to pay rent, and we want them to renew. It’s much better for us if we were to go in and allow them to do it. So that’s what this is all about.”

Christiansen finishes by saying the industry lived on paper in 2005 and then moved online over the next decade.

“We believe that over the next 10 years, it’s going to go from online to agentic. Consumers are moving more and more to these tools. And we just need to start to shift to be there with them. That’s a future we’re excited about,” he says.