Residents & Board
Removing or banning a user
The right way to revoke a user's access — unlink, mark moved out, ban, or delete. Each is reversible-or-not in different ways. Pick wrong and you lose history or break the resident's portal.
Last updated April 29, 2026
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 after self-signup |
| Rejected | Signup was rejected; account exists but can’t access the community |
| Moved Out | User has left the community; can’t log in but record is preserved |
| Banned | User access revoked due to abuse; record preserved |
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 | Yes (re-link them) | Yes |
| Mark Moved Out | Account exists but can’t log in | Yes (set back to Active) | Yes |
| Ban account | Like Moved Out, but flagged as abusive | Yes (un-ban) | Yes |
| Delete account | Fully gone | 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
- They see “no property assigned” on next login until you (or they) link to a new one
How:
- Open the property
- Find the user in the linked-residents list
- Click Remove
This is the right move during normal household changes (someone moves between units, a co-resident moves out but stays in the area).
Mark as Moved Out
Use when: the user is gone — moved out, sold, no longer part of the community — and you want to revoke their access cleanly while preserving the audit trail.
What happens:
- Account is marked Moved Out
- They can’t log in
- Their record stays in the system — past actions, transactions, messages all preserved
- Search and lists hide them by default
How:
- Go to Members in the admin sidebar
- Find the user
- Edit their status to Moved Out
This is the most common cleanup action. Use it for almost every “this person is no longer in the community” case.
Ban account
Use when: the user is being abusive — flooding requests, harassing other residents, posting inappropriate content — and you want them gone with a flag that says “this was a problem user.”
What happens:
- Same as Moved Out (they can’t log in, history preserved)
- Account is flagged as Banned, which warns admins if a re-link is attempted later
- The ban event stays in the history with a reason
How:
- Open the user’s profile
- Mark them as Banned with a reason
Bans are reversible (un-ban via the same menu), but the ban event stays in the history.
When to ban vs. mark Moved Out: if there was no misconduct — they just moved out, term ended, etc. — Moved Out. Ban is for explicit abuse you want to flag for the next admin who comes along.
Delete account
Use when: the user has explicitly requested account deletion (e.g., privacy regulations, user choice) and you’ve confirmed it’s the right call.
What happens:
- Account is permanently removed
- Their personal info (name, email, profile data) is deleted
- Linked records (transactions, requests they filed) remain anonymized as “Deleted user”
Important: deletion is not reversible. Once done, you can’t bring back their profile.
Most communities will only do this on explicit user request. Don’t delete just because someone moved out — use Moved Out instead.
Decision tree
Why are you removing them?
│
├── They're moving to a different property in the community
│ → Unlink from current property; new property is the link
│
├── They moved out / are no longer part of the community
│ → Mark Moved Out
│
├── They were abusive
│ → Ban (with a clear reason)
│
└── They've explicitly requested account deletion (privacy)
→ Delete (irreversible)When in doubt, mark Moved Out. It’s reversible, it preserves history, and it gets them out of the system.
Things people sometimes try (don’t)
“Just changing their email so they can’t log in”
Bad idea. Their session may still be active. Their data is still tied to the old email. You haven’t actually revoked anything; you’ve just made their record confusing. Mark Moved Out.
”Removing them from the property and assuming that locks them out”
Doesn’t. Their account is still Active — they can still log in, see other communities they’re in, etc. They just won’t see the property they were unlinked from. Mark Moved Out to actually lock them out.
”Deleting them and then re-creating their account”
If they’re coming back, just set their status back to Active. Don’t delete and recreate — you lose their history.
Bringing someone back
| Original action | How to restore |
|---|---|
| Unlinked | Re-link them to the same or a new property |
| Moved Out | Set status back to Active |
| Banned | Un-ban from their profile |
| 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