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 April 29, 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 → Community Settings
Organized by category — branding, contact info, address, dues, payments, AI sources, and the configured amenity list.
Branding and contact
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| HOA name | Appears on letterheads, emails, portal header. Use the legal name. |
| Logo | PNG/JPG; appears on letterheads, emails, and the portal home page. Square-ish images work best. |
| Contact email | Where resident emails land. Set this to the address that feeds your unified email inbox. |
| Contact phone (optional) | Listed on the community contact page |
| Mailing address | Used for letterheads and physical mail return address |
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)
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Default dues amount | Per property (can be overridden per property) |
| Frequency | Monthly or annual |
| Due day | Day of month dues are due (1-28) |
| Annual due month / day | For annual dues: which month and day |
| Grace period | Days after due date before late fee applies |
| Late fee amount | Flat dollar amount |
| Split payment configuration | If you bill in installments (e.g., 50% June, 50% December) |
Most of these are set once during setup and rarely changed.
Payment methods
Settings → Community Settings → Payment Methods panel
Configure which payment methods are enabled for residents:
- Stripe (cards, ACH, Apple Pay)
- PayPal / Venmo
- Check (with payable-to and mailing address)
- Other manually-recorded methods
See Payment methods overview for the full picture.
Amenities
The list of community amenities is configured here as an array of names. Each amenity can be expanded with its own config (booking mode, fees, deposits) — see Setting up amenities.
AI knowledge base
(More detail in AI knowledge base)
Toggle whether AI features (Herald Chat, Herald Shield analysis) draw from:
- Your community’s announcements
- Resolved neighborhood requests
- External websites you configure
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)
- AI 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 Physical Mail, Stripe, PayPal
- AI knowledge base — what Herald Chat draws from
- Configuring dues — the financial side of community config