Linking residents to a property

Every active property has at least one resident attached to it. Most have more — spouses, family members, sometimes tenants. This article covers how the primary / co-resident model works and the situations admins ask about most.

The model

A property has:

• One primary resident — the main contact, the default recipient of notifications, the “owner of record” in the portal sense
• Zero or more co-residents — additional household members with read access to the property

There’s only one balance per property. Co-residents see the same balance and can pay against it. There’s no “split this dues bill” — whoever pays, pays.

When you’d link multiple residents

The common cases:

• Married couple — both adults in the household. One is primary, the other is a co-resident. Both get notifications. Either can pay.
• Adult children living at home — sometimes co-residents, sometimes not. Up to the family.
• Owner + tenant — the owner is primary (they own the property and the dues), the tenant is a co-resident if you want them to see notices and book amenities.
• Multiple owners on the deed — both are primary-eligible, but pick one for the primary slot. The other is a co-resident.

When not to link:

• Absentee owner with no tenant — just the owner as primary, no co-residents. They’ll get notices to whatever email they signed up with.
• Someone who moved out — unlink them. Don’t leave ex-residents tied to properties they no longer live at.
• Service providers (gardener, contractor) — they shouldn’t have portal access at all.

Adding a primary resident

This usually happens automatically:

• When a new resident signs up via the join code and picks a property, they become the primary if no one else is primary
• When you invite someone to a property and they accept, they become the primary if the slot is empty

To set or change the primary manually:

1. Go to Properties in the admin sidebar
2. Open the property
3. Click Set primary resident (or change the existing one)
4. Pick from existing community members, or enter an email to invite

If a primary resident is already set and you change it, the previous primary becomes a co-resident automatically (unless you also remove them).

Adding a co-resident

Two ways:

Way 1 — admin adds them

1. Open the property
2. Click Add co-resident
3. Enter their email
4. They get an invite email; on signup they’re auto-linked as a co-resident

Way 2 — primary resident adds them

The primary resident can invite household members from their own profile in the resident portal. The invitee gets the same flow as above. The admin doesn’t have to be involved.

This is usually the better path — primary residents know who lives in their household better than you do.

Removing a resident from a property

When someone moves out, leaves the household, gets divorced, etc.:

1. Open the property
2. Find the resident in the linked-users list
3. Click Remove
4. Pick what happens to their account:
   • Keep account, just unlink — they’ll see “no property” on next login. Good if they’re moving to another property in the community soon.
   • Mark account inactive — they keep history but can’t log in. Good for ex-residents who shouldn’t have access anymore.
   • Delete account — fully gone. Use only if requested by the user (privacy regs may require this).

If you’re removing the primary resident and there are co-residents, promote one of the co-residents to primary first — otherwise the property has no primary.

Special case — owner-occupied vs. rented

HomeHerald doesn’t formally distinguish between owners and tenants. Everyone is a “resident” attached to a property. But there are some patterns admins use:

Pattern A: Owner is primary, tenant is co-resident

Best when the owner wants to stay involved (sees notices, pays dues directly). Tenant gets portal access for amenity bookings and request submission, but doesn’t see admin announcements aimed at owners.

Pattern B: Tenant is primary, owner is unlinked

Best when the owner is fully hands-off. Tenant handles dues (probably through a property management company that’s billed separately, or as a pass-through in their rent). Owner doesn’t have a HomeHerald account at all.

The downside: if the tenant moves out, you have to remember to switch the primary back, otherwise the property has no resident.

Pattern C: Owner is primary, tenant has no access

Best when the owner doesn’t want the tenant involved at all. Tenant doesn’t show up in HomeHerald — the property looks owner-occupied to the system. The owner manages everything.

Which to pick?

Most communities don’t have a hard rule and let the owner decide on a per-property basis. If you want consistency, document the convention in your bylaws or onboarding email.

Pre-approved emails on a property

You can attach a list of emails to a property that auto-approve when they sign up. See Inviting residents for the broader flow.

These are per property, not community-wide. So if Lot 14 has john@example.com, jane@example.com pre-approved, those two emails skip the approval queue when they sign up for Lot 14. Anyone else, or those same emails picking a different lot, still need admin approval.

Common gotchas

“There’s already a primary resident, but the wrong person.” Change the primary. The previous primary becomes a co-resident automatically. If you also want them gone, remove them as a co-resident in a separate step.

“A resident is showing up on two properties.” Possible if a community has split-household residents (unusual) or if someone moved between units within the community without you removing them from the old one. Open the user’s profile and check Linked properties. Remove the old link.

“The primary moved out but their spouse is still here. What do I do?” Promote the spouse to primary. Then unlink the original primary. The balance stays on the property — neither person owns the balance, the property does.

“A resident is asking why their roommate can see the dues balance.” Because they’re both linked to the property. If that’s not appropriate (e.g., the roommate isn’t on the deed and shouldn’t see financial info), unlink the roommate as a co-resident — they lose visibility but can still be invited back later if needed.

Where to go next

• Move-ins and move-outs — the full ownership-change flow
• Inviting residents — the bulk-invite side
• User roles explained — for permission differences (coming soon)