Settings
Community settings
The community-level settings every admin should configure once and rarely touch - name, logo, address, contact info, dues schedule, late fees. Quick tour of each setting.
Last updated September 25, 2026
Community settings are the foundational config - set them once during setup, revisit when something changes. This article is the tour.
Where they live
Settings in the admin sidebar (under Configure). The screen is headed Community Settings.
It is organized in sections: HOA Contact Information, Community Location, Community Branding, Dues & Assessments, Payment Methods, Community Backups, and HOA Management Team.
Branding and contact
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Community Name | Appears on letterheads, emails, portal header. Use the legal name. |
| Community Logo | PNG/JPG; appears on letterheads, emails, and the portal home page. Square-ish images work best. |
| Contact Email | The HOA’s contact address, visible to all community members. |
| Contact Phone (optional) | Also visible to all community members. |
| Mailing Address | The return address on mailed letters. |
Community location
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| State | Herald uses it to apply your state’s HOA law. |
| City/Town and County (optional) | Local context for your community. |
When you change these:
- Logo updates everywhere immediately
- Letterheads use the new logo on next letter sent
- Email templates pick up the new branding on next send
Dues and late fee policy
(More detail in Configuring dues)
Under Dues & Assessments, the Community Assessments list holds each assessment you bill. Each one has:
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Name | What the charge is called on the ledger |
| Amount | The dollar amount per property |
| Frequency | Monthly or Annual |
| Due Day of Month | For monthly assessments: the day of the month it is due |
| Due Month + Due Day | For annual assessments: the month and day it is due |
| Late After | Days after the due date before the late fee applies |
| Late Fee ($) | Flat dollar amount |
| Apply to all properties | Bills the assessment to every property |
One toggle, Apply assessments automatically when due, covers all of them.
Most of these are set once during setup and rarely changed.
Payment methods
Settings → Payment Methods
Configure which payment methods residents see:
- Check (with payable-to and mailing address)
- PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App - payment instructions shown to residents (your email or username plus a note). Residents pay outside HomeHerald.
- Credit Card & Bank (ACH) via Stripe - paid in the app
See Payment methods overview for the full picture.
Amenities
Amenities are not set up here. They have their own Amenities page - see Setting up amenities.
AI knowledge base
(More detail in AI knowledge base)
The sources Herald Chat draws from are not on this screen. They live in Configuration → Herald Chat → Additional Sources, where you toggle:
- HOA Announcements
- Neighborhood Issues
- External Websites
What you don’t change often
A few settings to set once and forget:
- HOA legal name (only changes on legal restructuring)
- Logo (changes when you rebrand, rare)
- Mailing address (changes if you move offices, rare)
A few settings to revisit periodically:
- Late fee amount (after annual review or bylaw updates)
- Payment methods (as you add or remove options)
- Herald Chat sources (as your community website changes)
Common situations
”Our HOA legally renamed”
Update the name. The old name stays in past records (letterheads, ledger entries) - that’s accurate history. Going forward, everything uses the new name.
”We changed our mailing address”
Update the address. Past records keep the old address (correct historically). New letters and outgoing mail use the new address.
If the old address was a P.O. Box that’s been closed, set up forwarding for a few months in case mail is in transit.
”Multiple admins are editing settings at the same time”
Last write wins. If two admins are saving conflicting changes, the one who saves last “wins.” Coordinate changes via internal communication, especially for complex configurations.
Where to go next
- Plan and billing - billing-specific settings
- Integrations - connected services like Stripe, Physical Mail, and Email Integration
- AI knowledge base - what Herald Chat draws from
- Configuring dues - the financial side of community config