Frequently Asked Questions

HOA management software is an online platform that lets a homeowners association or condo association run its day-to-day operations from one place — collecting dues and online payments, keeping the books with real accounting, sending email and SMS to residents, tracking violations and architectural requests, storing governing documents, running online votes, and giving every homeowner a self-service portal. It replaces spreadsheets, paper notices, and the handful of disconnected tools most boards juggle today.

The best HOA management platform is the one that covers everything your association actually does — payments, accounting, communications, violations, requests, documents, voting, and a homeowner portal — in a single system, at a price a self-managed community can afford, and that's simple enough for a volunteer board to run without training. HOAfy is built to that standard: every feature is included in every plan, pricing is transparent and per-community, and users, storage, and email are unlimited. Start a free 30-day trial and compare it against your current tools.

Pricing across the market ranges from free, payment-only tools to per-unit platforms that can run several dollars per unit each month plus setup and add-on fees. HOAfy uses one flat per-community subscription, tiered by unit count, starting at $36/month for communities with up to 30 units — every feature included, no add-ons or paywalls. See the full pricing page for the complete tier table.

Yes. Modern HOA management software is designed so a volunteer board can self-manage a community end-to-end — billing, accounting, communications, violations, and the homeowner portal — without hiring a property manager. HOAfy is purpose-built for self-managed associations, and if you do work with a manager, they can be invited with a dedicated role to handle operations for you.

HOAfy is an all-in-one HOA management platform that replaces spreadsheets, paper notices, and the patchwork of disconnected tools most associations rely on today. One system handles dues and payments, accounting, communications, violations, requests, documents, voting, and the homeowner portal — all under a single login.

Self-managed HOAs and condo associations, volunteer boards, and small-to-mid-size property management companies. If your community has between 10 and a few thousand units, HOAfy is sized to fit. Property managers can run multiple communities from a single account.

Most options fall into two camps: platforms retro-fitted from rental and property-management software — with bolted-on HOA features, complicated pricing, and a steep learning curve — and payment-only point tools that collect dues but leave you stitching together separate apps for accounting, communications, violations, and documents. HOAfy is purpose-built for community associations as a single system, with transparent per-community pricing, every feature included in every plan, and a UX simple enough for a volunteer board to run without training. Unlimited users, unlimited storage, and unlimited email are always included — no per-seat or per-message fees.

No. HOAfy is designed so a volunteer board can self-manage end-to-end. That said, if you do work with a property manager, they can be invited as a Property Manager role and handle day-to-day operations for you — including across multiple communities.

Yes — 30 days, no credit card required. Cancel anytime.

One flat per-community subscription, tiered by unit count, with annual billing as the default (save 10% vs monthly). Every feature is included at every tier — no add-ons, modules, or paywalls. Pricing starts at $36/month for communities with up to 30 units, and we're always cheaper than PayHOA at every community size. See the full pricing page for the complete tier table.

No. Unlimited document storage, unlimited users, unlimited transactional and broadcast email — all included in the base plan.

Yes — save 10% with annual billing.

Online payments are processed via Stripe at $0.50 per ACH transfer and 2.9% + $0.30 for credit/debit cards. Optional USPS letter mailing is $1.50 per piece. Surcharges can be configured to be absorbed by the association or passed through to the payer where state law allows.

Yes. No long-term contracts and no cancellation fees. You can export all your data at any time before, during, or after cancellation.

Most associations are operational within a week. The onboarding wizard walks you through community setup, roster import, accounts configuration, and inviting board members and homeowners. We optimize for getting you to your first invoice run as fast as possible.

Yes. HOAfy supports CSV-based import for the unit roster, owners, opening account balances, and historical invoices. We also accept spreadsheet paste for quick edits during onboarding. The importer validates the data, lets you preview before commit, and produces an error CSV for any rows that need fixing.

You can invite homeowners individually, in bulk from the roster, or via a public sign-up link tied to your community. Invitations are sent by email and carry a one-click magic-link login option for owners who don't want to remember a password.

Yes. HOAfy supports multi-owner units (joint ownership, trusts, LLCs) as a first-class concept — every owner sees the unit in their portal, can pay dues, vote, and receive communications according to their role.

Yes. Non-owner residents can be added with a Resident role — they see community announcements, public documents, the directory, and can submit requests, but they don't see financial information or cast votes.

ACH bank transfer and credit/debit card, both processed securely through Stripe. Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported on the payment portal. Boards can also enter manual payments (check, cash, lockbox) on behalf of owners.

Yes. Boards define recurring billing schedules (monthly, quarterly, annual, or custom cadences), and HOAfy generates the invoice batch automatically on the issue date. Homeowners can enroll in autopay from their portal and choose between paying each invoice on its due date or paying a fixed day every month.

Yes. Late fees can be configured as flat, percentage, or compounding interest, and they post automatically once an invoice ages past the grace period. Violation fines flow into invoices the same way and link back to the source violation.

Yes. HOAfy includes full double-entry general-ledger accounting with a configurable chart of accounts, journal entries, bank reconciliation, budgets, and the standard reports your CPA expects (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow, AR Aging, GL Detail). Cash and accrual basis are both supported.

Yes. Reports export to PDF and CSV. Full GL detail can be exported in formats compatible with QuickBooks, Xero, and most CPA tools.

Email and SMS broadcasts for mass communication, plus the in-app message board, community calendar, and (optionally) printed USPS mail. Voice broadcasts for emergency alerts are on the roadmap.

Yes. Audiences are defined by saved queries — by role, by unit attribute, by tag, by delinquency state, by location, or any boolean combination. Audiences are previewed before send and re-resolved at send time so scheduled messages always reach the right people.

Yes. Each association has its own sender identity (verified via SPF/DKIM/DMARC), branded header and footer, and template library. Mail-merge variables let you personalize subject lines and body content per recipient.

Yes — promotional and newsletter messages always carry an unsubscribe link, as required by law. Transactional notices (invoices, violation notices, legal mailings) cannot be unsubscribed. Each homeowner can also set per-channel preferences (email / SMS / mail) on their profile.

Each violation moves through a configurable lifecycle (Notice → Cure Period → Hearing → Fine → Resolved) with auto-generated notice templates, photo evidence, and a fine schedule that posts to an invoice when triggered. Field inspections work on mobile, including offline, and sync when reconnected.

Yes. The board can build custom request forms (architectural review, maintenance, amenity reservations, etc.) with their own fields, fees, approval workflows, and SLA timers. Owners submit and track status from the portal.

Yes. Boards can create ballots and surveys with multiple question types, eligibility rules (owners-only, one-vote-per-unit), quorum tracking, and full audit trail of every cast vote. Results are tallied automatically and exported as PDF for the official record.

Account balance and history, online payment, autopay enrollment, invoice and statement download, document library access, request submission and tracking, voting, violation history, the community calendar, and a self-service profile with contact-info updates and notification preferences.

Yes. The document library supports folders, role-based view permissions (public / owners-only / board-only / committee-only), versioning, and direct links from email broadcasts. Storage is unlimited.

All data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.2+). Card and ACH data is never stored on HOAfy infrastructure — Stripe handles all payment data under PCI-DSS Level 1. Every API call is authorized server-side and association-scoped, so cross-community data access is impossible.

Yes. TOTP-based MFA can be enabled for any account and is recommended for board and manager roles. Passwordless magic-link login is available for homeowners who want a lower-friction option.

Yes. Every create, update, and delete is recorded with actor, IP, timestamp, and a before/after diff. Sensitive reads (financial reports, member exports, document downloads) are logged too. The audit log is retained for 7 years to satisfy state HOA record-retention statutes.

HOAfy runs on AWS in US regions (us-east-1 primary). The platform uses managed services — Cognito for identity, DynamoDB for data, S3 for documents.

Yes. Roster, financials, documents, and audit log can all be exported in standard formats (CSV, PDF, ZIP). Your data is yours — no lock-in, ever.

Out of the box: Owner (super-admin), Board President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Board Member, Property Manager, Committee Chair, Committee Member, Homeowner, Resident, and Vendor. Each role has tailored permissions reflecting standard HOA governance. Custom roles are on the roadmap.

Yes. A single user account can hold different roles in different communities — common for property managers, regional directors, and owners with property in multiple HOAs. The portal lets you switch between communities with one click.

Yes. Vendors can be invited with a Vendor role that scopes access to their assigned work orders, invoices, and relevant communications — they cannot see financials or member data outside of what they're working on.

Email and in-app support are included for every plan. You can also reach us through the contact form. Onboarding assistance is included free for every new community.

Absolutely — the product is built with feedback from real boards. Use the contact form or in-app feedback to send a request. We publish our roadmap publicly and prioritize based on community impact.

The web app is fully responsive and works on any phone or tablet without an install. Native iOS and Android apps for field inspections and homeowner self-service are on the roadmap.

Today HOAfy is optimized for US-based community associations (state-by-state compliance, USPS mail, US payment rails). The interface is available in English, Spanish, and German, and international expansion is part of the long-term roadmap.