Payments & Billing

Dues AutoPay

Residents and landlords can save a card or bank account and have dues pay themselves on every due date - with a heads-up 3 days before each charge, and automatic pause if a payment fails.

Last updated July 6, 2026

AutoPay is the “set it and forget it” way to pay dues. A resident (or a landlord) saves a card or bank account once, and from then on the balance pays itself on each due date. No missed payments, no late fees, no board member chasing anyone.

How a resident turns it on

  1. Open My HOA in the resident portal
  2. On the Account Activity card, find the AutoPay panel
  3. Tap Set up AutoPay
  4. Save a card or bank account in the secure Stripe sheet

That’s it. The panel flips to “AutoPay is on” with the saved method shown (like “Visa ****4242”). Turning it off is one tap, anytime.

AutoPay is available once the HOA has connected its bank account through Stripe - the same requirement as regular online payments. Money goes straight to the HOA’s account; HomeHerald never holds funds.

What AutoPay charges, and when

  • On each due date, AutoPay charges the property’s outstanding balance - whatever is actually due, in one payment.
  • Charges that aren’t due yet are never charged early. If an annual assessment is posted in January but due in March, AutoPay won’t touch it until March.
  • Monthly communities re-charge every month automatically as each new dues cycle posts. Annual and split-payment schedules work the same way - AutoPay follows whatever schedule the community bills on.
  • The payment lands on the property ledger like any other online payment, and the payer gets a confirmation.

If the community passes convenience fees to residents, the same rates apply as manual payments: cards 4% + $0.30, bank payments 2%.

The 3-day heads-up

Nobody should ever be surprised by a charge. Three days before every AutoPay charge, the payer gets a message (in-app, email, and push) with the exact amount, the line items coming due, and which saved method will be charged. Plenty of time to pause AutoPay or fix something that doesn’t look right.

When a payment fails

If a charge is declined, AutoPay:

  1. Notifies the payer immediately and retries once, 3 days later
  2. If the retry also fails, AutoPay pauses itself - the payer is told to update their payment method, and the board gets a notice
  3. The property re-enters the normal collection flow (including Dues Chaser) until the balance is paid and AutoPay is re-enrolled

AutoPay and the Dues Chaser

Properties with healthy AutoPay are skipped by the Dues Chaser - no reminders, no escalation, because the balance is about to pay itself. The moment AutoPay fails or pauses, the chase resumes automatically. The two systems hand off to each other with no admin work.

Landlords can enroll too

If a property’s billing contact has a HomeHerald account, they see a Properties You Pay For section in their portal listing every property they’re the billing contact for - each with its balance, a one-time Pay Now button, and its own AutoPay enrollment. One owner with five rentals can put all five on AutoPay with the same card.

Common questions

“Can the admin enroll a resident in AutoPay?” No. The payment method belongs to the payer, so only they can save it. Admins can see that a property is enrolled, but never the card details.

“What happens when a resident on AutoPay moves out?” Move-out ends the enrollment automatically - the departing resident’s card is never charged for the next resident’s dues. The new resident can enroll themselves once they claim the home.

“Does AutoPay charge fines too?” AutoPay pays the property’s due balance, which includes any posted charges that have reached their due date - dues, assessments, and fines alike. The 3-day heads-up itemizes everything, so the payer always sees exactly what’s coming.

“Can a resident pay part of the balance manually and let AutoPay do the rest?” Yes. AutoPay charges whatever is still outstanding on the due date. If the balance is already zero, it charges nothing.

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