Approving pending residents

When someone signs up in the app with your community’s join code, their account is active right away. What they can reach depends on the home they pick:

• An unclaimed home - they claim it on the spot and see its balance immediately.
• A home that’s already claimed - they can tap I live here too, which asks the current resident to let them into the household, or I’m purchasing this home, which asks the current owner to confirm the sale. The resident at that address decides, not the board.
• A home where they’re on file - if their email or phone is on the property under Residents & contacts, they join the household with no approval step at all.

So the board’s own approval queue is small. This article covers it.

Where the queue lives

Members sidebar → Active Members → the “Pending Approvals ({n})” panel at the top

The panel only appears when someone is waiting. Each entry shows the name and address on the account, with Approve and Reject buttons.

Who ends up in it

• People who joined by texting JOIN and your join code to your Herald line. Their account is created from their phone number, so it starts with the placeholder name “New Resident” and no address until they fill in their profile.
• Any older signups that were left pending.

A pending person can’t get in: when they try to sign in, the app tells them their account is waiting for the community administrator’s approval.

What to check before approving

Three quick checks. The whole review takes seconds per person if nothing’s odd.

1. Do you know who this is?

If the name and address match someone on your roster, approve. A text signup may show only “New Resident” - if you can’t tell who it is, reach out to them before approving.

2. Is the address right?

The most common mistake: a resident types the wrong unit number. If “John Smith” says Lot 14 but your roster says John Smith owns Lot 41, that’s likely a typo, not a bad actor.

3. Is the home already someone else’s?

If you’ve never heard of them and the property already has a resident who is in the system, that’s a flag - approve only if you’ve verified.

Approving

Click Approve on the entry.

Their account becomes active and they can sign in right away. If the address on their account matches an unclaimed property, HomeHerald links them to it as the primary resident. If it doesn’t match (or they have no address yet), they pick their home the next time they open the app.

Rejecting

Click Reject on the entry.

There’s no reason field and no email. When they try to sign in, they’re told the account is no longer active. A rejected account doesn’t appear in Active Members or Former Members, and there’s no button to undo a rejection, so reject only when you’re sure. If the person turns out to be legitimate, ask them to contact the board.

What happens if you ignore the queue

If pending signups sit unreviewed:

• Those residents are stuck - they can’t sign in, see their balance, pay, or book amenities
• They’ll contact you (which is fair)
• Eventually some give up and stop trying

Glance at Members whenever you’re in the admin panel. Because most signups never need approval, the list is usually empty.

Common situations

”Two people signed up for the same property”

Usually a couple or roommates. The first one to pick an unclaimed home claims it; the second taps I live here too, and the first approves them into the household. If you’d rather skip that step, put both on the property under Residents & contacts ahead of time.

”Someone keeps picking the wrong property”

Open them in Members and use the Property Link card to link them to the right home, or ask them to pick again.

”An ex-resident is trying to get back in”

A resident you moved out can rejoin the community with the join code; they come back as a member with no home. If they shouldn’t be able to come back, use Ban from Community instead - see Removing or banning a user.

Where to go next

• Inviting residents - open join code vs. pre-approval
• User roles explained - what residents can do once approved
• Removing or banning a user - when approval was a mistake