Case Study: Sun Communities achieves streamlined, scalable hiring and 1‑hour drug screening with Sterling

Sun Communities - Customer Case Study

Sun Communities, a public REIT that owns manufactured housing and RV communities across 27 states, faced a fragmented, largely manual hiring process: decentralized recruiting, three separate platforms requiring manual data entry, and three years of poor experiences with multiple background-screening vendors. VP of HR Marc Farrugia sought an integrated, scalable solution and turned to Sterling for employment/background screening services (implemented alongside SuccessFactors) to eliminate unclear reports, long hold times, and inefficient workflows.

Sterling implemented an integrated screening solution with SuccessFactors so candidate data flows end-to-end in a single system, supported by a dedicated Account Manager who resolves 99% of issues on the spot. The result: recruiters handle 500+ applicants daily in one platform, manual entry was consolidated, calls to screening vendors fell from 4–5 weekly to 1–2 monthly, and drug-screen turnaround dropped from four days to about one hour—positioning Sun Communities for seasonal hiring surges and projected 33% growth.

Sun Communities

Marc Farrugia

Vice President of Human Resources