Setting up online dues collection

Ask us from the Dues page first, and we usually answer the same day. Then Dues, then Set up payouts. A board member walks through Stripe's secure setup with the association's legal details and bank account; it takes about ten minutes and only happens once. Money always settles directly to the association's own bank. neighborPOP never holds community funds.

Policy, then invoices

Set the amount per home, how often (yearly through monthly), and the due day. Any home can carry its own amount or be exempt on its page in the Directory; common areas are never invoiced. Generate creates a draft invoice for every home, and nothing emails until you review the list and press send. Generating twice can never double-bill.

Who pays the processing fee

The resident, shown plainly before they choose. Bank transfer is 0.8%, rounded up to the dollar and never more than $5, so $3 on $300 of dues. A card is 2.9% plus 30 cents, and a little more so the fee does not come out of the association's dues, so $9.27 on the same $300. The fee goes to the payment network, not the HOA and not neighborPOP: we take nothing out of a dues payment, and the association nets the full dues amount either way.

Turning dues on

Dues collection moves real money into the association's bank account, so we switch it on by hand rather than leaving it self serve. Open the Dues page and press "Ask us to turn on dues"; we usually answer the same day. After that, setting up payouts takes about ten minutes with Stripe, which verifies the association and its bank account.

Checks, late fees, autopay

When a check arrives, record it in two clicks on the invoice row (check, cash, or waived) and the ledger updates like any online payment. If your covenants include a late fee, set the amount in the dues policy; once the due date plus grace days passes, one button applies it to every overdue invoice in that period, exactly once, and the pay page shows it as its own labeled line. Homes on autopay are charged automatically when you send the period's invoices, and the send summary tells you how many were covered that way.

Setting the late fee

Covenants word this three ways and all three work. On the Dues page, set a flat amount, a percentage of the dues, or both: when both are filled in they are added together, which is how documents that say "$25 plus 1.5%" actually read.

The percentage is taken on the dues only, never on a fee already added, so a fee can never compound on itself. Nothing is ever charged automatically: after the due date plus your grace days, a board member presses the button, and the page tells you exactly how many invoices it will touch and what it works out to.

Seeing who is behind

The past-due tile on your dashboard opens a list of every home with money outstanding, across every period, oldest first. Each row shows how many days late, how many payments have been missed, the total owed, and a link to that home's statement. It downloads as a spreadsheet for the board packet.

The treasurer's view

The dues page shows collected, awaiting, and drafts for the period, with every home's status and an autopay badge where it applies. The unpaid list is always current; the AI can draft a kind reminder that you review and send. Download any period as CSV for your bookkeeper or QuickBooks.