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Money & payments

How do residents pay dues, and where does the money go?

For board members and residents3-minute read
Short answer

Residents pay online from their bank account, or by card if your board has turned cards on. They pay exactly their dues, with no fee added. The money goes straight to your HOA's own Stripe account and then to your HOA's bank account. GnomeOwner never holds it.

On this page
How a resident paysWhere the money goesIf something doesn't look rightRelated

How a resident pays

  1. Open the dues email or the owner portal

    When your HOA accepts online payments, each dues email has a button to pay the amount owed online. It opens the payment page with no sign-in needed. Residents can also sign in to the owner portal at any time and pay from there.

  2. Choose how to pay

    Pay from bank is always there. Pay with card appears only if your board has turned card payments on. If cards are off, residents see a single bank payment button and nothing about cards.

    gnomeowner.com/portal

    The owner portal's pay area, showing the bank and card choices

  3. Check the amount

    The amount is exactly what the resident owes, the same for bank and card. Nothing is added for paying online.

  4. Pay on the secure checkout page

    The resident finishes the payment through Stripe, which handles the card or bank details. GnomeOwner's payment page notes that a bank payment clears in 3-4 business days, and the bank may ask the resident to confirm it first. Until it clears, the portal shows the payment as pending.

Where the money goes

Resident paysExactly their dues, from bank or card.
Your HOA's own Stripe accountThe payment is made on your HOA's account.
Your HOA's bank accountStripe pays out to the account your board connected.
Where GnomeOwner fits: we send the bill and record the payment. We never hold your HOA's money.

Any processing cost belongs to the HOA. It is taken out of what the HOA receives, and the board sees the cost when choosing which payment methods to offer. It is never added to a resident's bill.

GnomeOwner's own fee is 0.75% of each payment, capped at $5, taken from the payment on your HOA's account. It is not charged to residents.

Treasurer tip

Payments made through GnomeOwner are recorded on the owner's balance for you. Money that arrives some other way, such as a check or a bank transfer, does not record itself. When bank activity is brought in, matches to owners are suggestions that you confirm.

If something doesn't look right

A resident doesn't see "Pay with card"

Cards are turned off for your HOA. A board member who manages settings can turn them on under Settings, then Payments, with the Accept card payments switch.

A bank payment still shows as pending

That is normal for a few business days while the bank confirms it. The portal moves it to paid once the payment clears.

Checked against the product on October 10, 2026We checked this against how the product works on that date.
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