Configuring dues

Dues are the engine of HOA finances. Configuring them right means charges post on the right day, in the right amount, with the right late-fee behavior. This article walks through every setting and what it does.

Where to configure

Settings → Community Settings → Dues Settings panel.

The settings here are community-wide. Per-property dues amounts live on the property itself (set during import or via editing a property). The community-wide settings are about when and how — frequency, due date, grace, late fees.

Frequency

Two options:

Frequency	When dues post	Best for
Monthly	The 1st of every month (or your chosen day)	Most communities. Smoother cash flow.
Annual	Once a year on a chosen date	Smaller HOAs, or communities with low dues

Some communities also use quarterly or semi-annual — set frequency to monthly with split schedules (see below) for the same effect.

To change frequency:

1. Pick monthly or annual
2. Set the due day (e.g., 1st of the month for monthly, May 1 for annual)
3. Save

Changing frequency affects future dues only. Past charges don’t retroactively re-bucket.

Due date

The day dues are charged.

• Monthly: typically the 1st. Some communities use the 15th. Pick what your bylaws say.
• Annual: a specific date — typically tied to your fiscal year. May 1 and January 1 are common.

When the due date arrives, HomeHerald automatically generates a DUES record on every Active property with a non-zero dues amount. Residents see the new charge on their property’s ledger immediately.

Grace period

How many days after the due date before late fees apply.

Grace period	What happens
0 days	Late fee applies the moment dues are unpaid past midnight on the due date
15 days	Common — gives people time to pay without penalty
30 days	Most lenient setting — typical HOA standard

Set it to whatever your bylaws specify. Most state HOA laws give residents at least some grace period before fees can be assessed; check your state.

Late fee amount

What gets charged when a property is past the grace period without paying. Late fees are configured as a flat dollar amount (e.g., $25).

Late fees are recorded as their own line on the property’s ledger. Once the property pays, no new late fees accrue, but past late fees stay on the ledger.

Split schedules — optional

If your community bills dues in installments rather than the full amount each period, use split schedules. Common patterns:

• 50% in June, 50% in December — annual dues split into two
• 25% per quarter — annual dues split into four
• Different amounts per month — uncommon but supported (e.g., $300 in summer months, $200 in winter)

To configure:

1. Set frequency to monthly (even for annual-with-installments)
2. Click Configure split schedule
3. Add each installment with a date and amount (or percentage of the property’s annual)
4. Save

The next dues run uses the new schedule. Past charges aren’t affected.

When changes take effect

A consistent rule worth memorizing:

Dues setting changes apply to future dues runs only. Past charges are not retroactively recalculated.

So if you raise dues, change frequency, or modify the late fee policy on April 15, the May 1 dues run reflects the change. April’s dues (already posted) don’t change.

If you need to retroactively adjust past charges, do it as a manual ledger entry — see How the ledger works.

Configuring late fees the way most communities want

A safe default for most US HOAs:

• Frequency: monthly, due on the 1st
• Grace period: 30 days
• Late fee: $25 flat OR 1% of balance, whichever your bylaws specify
• Split schedules: none (full monthly amount)

Adjust from there based on your specific bylaws.

When dues run

The system runs the dues job automatically at midnight in the community’s local time zone on the configured due date. You don’t trigger it. You can verify it ran by checking Transactions in the admin sidebar for new DUES records on or after the due date.

If for some reason a run gets missed (extremely rare — usually due to a system outage), support will run it manually and document the missed run.

Migrating from another system

If you’re coming from another HOA management tool or from spreadsheets:

1. Set the new dues schedule first under Settings → Community Settings → Dues Settings panel. Don’t worry that it’ll affect things — you have a chance to handle the transition.
2. Import your property roster with each property’s outstanding balance as the Initial Balance field. See Importing your property roster.
3. Pick a clean cutover date. Usually the next dues period start. From that date forward, HomeHerald runs the show.
4. Stop the old system on the same date. Don’t run both in parallel — you’ll get duplicate charges and angry residents.
5. Communicate. Send a community-wide announcement explaining the switch, with the join code and what residents need to do.

If the migration is complex (mid-period transitions, multiple billing schedules, prorations), email support@homeherald.ai before you start. They’ve done it many times and can save you a few hours.

Common scenarios

”I want to raise dues by $25 across the community”

1. Use bulk edit on the property list to change the monthly dues amount on every property
2. The next dues run picks up the new amount
3. Send an announcement explaining the increase and when it takes effect

”Some properties pay $200 and some pay $300 — is that supported?”

Yes. The dues amount lives on the property, not the community. Different properties can have different amounts. The community-wide setting is just the schedule (when), not the amount.

”We’re switching from annual to monthly billing”

1. Change frequency from annual to monthly
2. The annual amount needs to be divided by 12 and applied per property — bulk edit handles this
3. The next monthly run picks it up
4. Past annual charges stay as they were

”We want to charge interest on overdue balances, not just a flat late fee”

The current system supports flat late fees only. Interest-based or percentage-based fees aren’t built in. If your bylaws require percentage-based late fees, you’d need to manually calculate and apply them as one-off charges.

Where to go next

• How the ledger works — what happens after dues post
• Enabling Stripe payments — so residents can actually pay
• Importing your property roster — set per-property dues amounts