Removing or banning a user

Sometimes you need to remove a user. They moved out. They sold the property. They’re abusing the system. They asked to be deleted for privacy reasons. There are a few ways to revoke access in HomeHerald, and they’re not interchangeable.

The user statuses

A user’s status is one of:

Status	What it means
Active	Normal - can log in, see the community
Pending	Waiting for admin approval (see Approving pending residents)
Rejected	Signup was rejected; account exists but can’t access the community
Moved Out	User has left the community; record is preserved, and they can rejoin with the join code
Banned	User removed for misconduct; record is preserved and they can never rejoin

When residents leave, Moved Out is the right answer for clean exits. Banned is for misconduct.

The options for revoking access

Action	What it does	Reversible?	History preserved?
Unlink from property	Removes their connection to a property; account stays active	Yes (re-link them)	Yes
Move Out User	Takes them out of the community and off their home	They can rejoin with the join code	Yes
Ban from Community	Moves them out and blocks them from ever rejoining	Yes (Unban Member)	Yes
Delete account	Fully gone - only the person can do this	No	No

Each is the right answer for different situations.

Unlink from property

Use when: the user is moving to another property in the community, or you want to keep their account around for some reason.

What happens:

• Their connection to the property is removed
• They lose visibility into that property’s balance, requests, ledger
• Their account stays Active - they can still log in
• The app asks them to pick a property until one is linked again

How: either

1. Open them in Members and click Unlink in the Property Link card (or search a new address there to move them), or
2. Open the property, click Modify, and use Remove (co-resident) or Move out (primary) in the Household section

This is the right move during normal household changes (someone moves between units, a co-resident moves out but stays in the area).

Move Out User

Use when: the user is gone - moved out, sold, no longer part of the community - and you want them off the community cleanly while preserving the audit trail.

What happens:

• Account is marked Moved Out, with the date
• They’re unlinked from their home. If they were the primary resident, the home’s co-residents are unlinked too, and the home reads Unclaimed
• Any AutoPay they set up on the home ends, so their card is never charged for the next resident’s dues
• Their record stays in the system - past actions, transactions, messages all preserved - and moves to Former Members
• If they sign in again, they land on the join screen. With the join code they can rejoin the community as a member with no home

How:

1. Go to Members in the admin sidebar
2. Open the user
3. Under Actions, click Move Out User, then Confirm

This is the most common cleanup action. Use it for almost every “this person is no longer in the community” case.

Ban from Community

Use when: the user is being abusive - flooding requests, harassing other residents, posting inappropriate content - and you want them gone for good.

What happens:

• Everything Move Out User does (off the home, history preserved)
• Account is marked Banned, with the date and your reason, shown on their record under Former Members
• They can’t sign in, and they can’t rejoin - even with the community join code

How:

1. Open the user in Members
2. Under Actions, click Ban from Community
3. Enter the Reason for ban (required) and click Permanently Ban

Bans are reversible: open the banned member and click Unban Member. That clears the ban and the reason and sets them to Moved Out, so they can rejoin with the join code if they want to.

When to ban vs. move out: if there was no misconduct - they just moved out, term ended, etc. - Move Out User. Ban is for explicit abuse, or anyone who should not be able to come back.

Delete account

Use when: the person wants their account gone (privacy, or just their choice).

Admins can’t delete a member’s account. The person does it themselves from their own profile: Delete Account.

What happens:

• Their account is permanently removed, from every community they belong to
• Their profile (name, email, phone) is deleted, and any roster entry that pointed at them is unlinked
• Any AutoPay they had set up ends

Important: deletion is not reversible. Once done, you can’t bring back their profile.

If someone asks you to delete them, point them to Delete Account in their profile. Don’t treat it as a move-out tool - use Move Out User instead.

Decision tree

Why are you removing them?
│
├── They're moving to a different property in the community
│   → Move their Property Link to the new home
│
├── They moved out / are no longer part of the community
│   → Move Out User
│
├── They were abusive, or must not come back
│   → Ban from Community (with a clear reason)
│
└── They want their account deleted (privacy)
    → They use Delete Account in their own profile (irreversible)

When in doubt, use Move Out User. It preserves history and gets them out of the community.

Things people sometimes try (don’t)

“Just changing their email so they can’t log in”

Bad idea. Their data is still tied to the old email. You haven’t actually revoked anything; you’ve just made their record confusing. Use Move Out User.

”Removing them from the property and assuming that locks them out”

Doesn’t. Their account is still Active - they can still log in, see community announcements, etc. They just won’t see the property they were unlinked from. Use Move Out User to take them out of the community.

”Assuming Move Out User keeps them out for good”

It doesn’t if they have the join code - they can rejoin (with no home). If they must stay out, ban them.

Bringing someone back

Original action	How to restore
Unlinked	Re-link them to the same or a new property
Moved Out	They rejoin with the join code, then claim or get linked to a home
Banned	Unban Member on their record, then they rejoin with the join code
Deleted	Can’t restore. They can sign up fresh, but no history.

Where to go next

• Move-ins and move-outs - the right flow for ownership changes
• Linking residents to a property - re-linking returning residents
• User roles explained - for demoting before removing