Integrations

HomeHerald connects to several external services for payments and communications. This article is the inventory — what each integration does, when to enable it, and how to manage credentials.

Where to manage integrations

Configuration (sidebar) — integrations live as cards inside the Configuration page and the AI & Integrations page.

You’ll see a list of available integrations with their connection status.

The integrations

Stripe (payments)

Required for online payments.

What it does:

• Card payments, ACH, Apple Pay, Google Pay
• Refunds
• Payout to your HOA’s bank account

Setup: see Enabling Stripe payments.

Disconnecting: residents lose the ability to pay online. Existing transactions and refunds still work. Only do this if you’re switching to a different payment processor or shutting down online payments.

PayPal (payments)

Optional alternative to Stripe.

What it does:

• PayPal payments from residents who prefer PayPal
• Refunds via PayPal

Setup: see Accepting PayPal, Venmo, and checks.

Disconnecting: residents lose PayPal as an option. Stripe still works.

Physical Mail

Optional but valuable for formal notices.

What it does:

• Sends physical letters (certified or standard) to residents
• Tracks delivery
• Bulk mail capabilities

Setup: see Physical Mail letters.

Disconnecting: you can no longer send letters via HomeHerald. You’d need to print and mail letters manually.

Email forwarding (Google Workspace, Microsoft, custom domain)

Useful if you want a branded email address feeding the unified inbox.

What it does:

• Forwards emails from your custom domain to HomeHerald’s inbox
• Lets you reply from board@yourhoa.com while routing through HomeHerald

This isn’t a “click-to-connect” integration — it’s email auto-forwarding configured at your provider level (Google, Microsoft, your domain registrar). See The unified email inbox for setup.

Integration security

A few things worth knowing:

Credentials are protected

API keys, tokens, and secrets entered for integrations are encrypted. Other communities, other admins from outside your community, and HomeHerald support staff cannot see your raw credentials.

If a credential leaks (e.g., your Stripe API key gets compromised), you can rotate it in the relevant provider’s dashboard and update HomeHerald with the new value.

OAuth where possible

Where supported (PayPal, Stripe), HomeHerald uses OAuth — meaning you authorize HomeHerald to act on your account without sharing the actual password. You can revoke the authorization in the provider’s dashboard.

Disconnect doesn’t delete history

When you disconnect an integration, past transactions / events stay in HomeHerald. Only the live connection is severed. Reconnecting in the future restores live functionality without re-entering historical data.

Common situations

”We connected Stripe but residents still can’t pay”

Likely causes:

• Stripe Connect setup is incomplete (missing capabilities like card_payments)
• Stripe is in test mode but you’re using live keys (or vice versa)
• Bank account isn’t verified

Check the Stripe dashboard for any flagged issues. Most blocking problems show as a yellow banner in Stripe.

”We disconnected Physical Mail by accident — what happens to letters in flight?”

Letters already submitted complete their journey (printing, mailing, delivery). New letters can’t be sent until you reconnect.

”An integration is showing ‘Authentication failed’”

The credentials may have rotated or expired. Reconnect via the integration’s UI in HomeHerald.

For OAuth integrations (Stripe, PayPal), the most common cause is the user who originally connected has lost access on their end. Reconnect from the current admin.

”We want to add a custom integration not in the list”

Email support@homeherald.ai about your specific need. The available integration list is fixed in the current product.

Where to go next

• Enabling Stripe payments — the most-used integration
• Physical Mail letters — formal mail
• The unified email inbox — for email forwarding setup
• Plan and billing — for what’s available where