About M.R. Qualified

Matthew Rodrigue

President

Matthew “Matt” Rodrigue founded M.R. Qualified to fill a gap in lending between ambitious real estate entrepreneurs and traditional banks with artificially rigid underwriting criteria.

Prior to founding M.R. Qualified, Matt served as Managing Director and Co-Head of Miller Buckfire & Co., a leading New York-based investment bank, where he advised on complex debt restructurings. As Matt developed his corporate finance career, he regularly invested in real estate, initially through short-term rentals and later adding various commercial and value-add properties to his portfolio. Matt remains a Senior Advisor to Miller Buckfire & Co.

Combining experience in debt restructuring and real estate investing, Matt launched M.R. Qualified as a family of companies in 2020. The business specializes where traditional banks struggle: underwriting that is fast and flexible. Communication with borrowers is direct and responsiveness is prioritized.

Matt grew up in Wilton, Maine, and graduated from the University of Maine with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. Following graduation, Matt worked for two years in consulting and subsequently obtained his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Derrek Shannon

Principal

Derrek Shannon has extensive experience underwriting, structuring and managing complex, high yield loan transactions in asset based, commercial real estate and litigation finance. This experience came at both bank and non-bank institutions, notably Entrepreneur Growth Capital, Maspeth Federal Savings and Sterling National Bank. Derrek is focused on M.R. Qualified’s expansion into the New York Metro and surrounding markets.

Derrek grew up in Smithtown, NY and graduated from SUNY Albany with a Bachelor of Business Administration. Early in his career, Derrek completed postgraduate work with a concentration in finance at New Jersey City University.

Tony Lindsey, CPA

Finance

Anthony “Tony” Lindsey, CPA, has more than 25 years of experience in real estate and accounting. At M.R. Qualified, Tony is responsible for financial functions, including servicing, bookkeeping and reporting. In addition to his work with M.R. Qualified, Tony owns and manages Accounting Insights, a financial consultancy focused on helping small businesses improve processes, create and monitor internal controls, establish and maintain budgets, and report financial results.

Tony received his MBA from the University of Southern Maine and Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate from The Ohio State University.