Skip to content
English
Contact us
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

How do I import members and households?

Importing Members and Households

Overview

HOA Start lets admins bulk-load resident data instead of adding people one at a time. You upload a Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file built from a downloadable template.

  • Member Import — brings basic resident/member records into the system. Use this for a standard member list, whether you're starting from scratch or migrating from another community website.
  • Household Import — an additional, separate import used only if your community needs the Households feature (shared invoicing, one-vote-per-property, multiple properties owned by one person, or property-manager billing). Households are built by repurposing your existing Member data, so most communities run the Member Import first, then the Household Members import.

If you don't have multiple people tied to the same property, multiple properties owned by one member, or a need to prevent duplicate votes/payments, you likely only need the basic Member Import — skip the Households section below.

 Required Fields Member Import (basic)

Go to Membership > Member Form to see all fields collected for each resident. Required fields are:

  • Email Address
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Country
  • Address Line 1
  • City
  • State
  • ZIP

Notes on formatting:

  • State: spell out fully or use the two-letter USPS abbreviation.
  • Phone Number: not required, but must use a consistent format — `123-456-7890`, `(123) 456-7890`, or `1234567890`.
  • Custom Fields (e.g., number of vehicles, additional names) appear as extra columns to the right of ZIP. You decide whether each is required.
  • Tags: optional column used to group members (committees, board roles, access permissions). Separate multiple tags with commas and no spaces, e.g. `board,social,pool-access`.
  • If building your own CSV from scratch (not using the downloaded template), column headers must match the template exactly — same wording, same order, same capitalization. Do not rename, delete, or reorder columns, even empty ones.

 Household Members Import (additional, on top of basic Member fields)

The Household Members import template contains everything in the Member export, minus Phone Number and Tags, plus two new required columns:

  • Household Title — required, acts as the unique ID grouping members into the same household.
  • Access Type — required; defaults to "Owner" if left blank.

Lot Number and Address Line 2 are optional in both the Member export and the Household import.

> There are actually three Household import templates — Addresses, Households, and Household Members. Most communities only need Household Members, since it contains all the fields the other two templates have. The exception: if you need Household Labels for billing or voting, you need both the Households and Household Members templates. See the Online Help topic "How to Decide If You Need to Use Households" for that scenario.

 Step-by-Step Import A. Importing Members (basic)

  1. Go to Membership > Members.
  2. Click the Members Actions dropdown (top right) and choose Member Import.
  3. In the MEMBER IMPORT window, click +Import Members.
  4. In the Import Users window, click Browse to upload your CSV, or click Download Import Template first if you need a blank template.
  5. Click View Summary to preview the results before committing.
    • Summary — new members, current members, total after import, and failed row count.
    • New Members
    • Updated Members
    • Failed Rows — tells you exactly which rows have problems so you can fix and re-upload.
  6. If everything looks correct, click Import.
  7. Processing can take a few minutes. Check status in the PROGRESS column of the Member Import window (Pending → Completed), or refresh and check the Members tab.

You can also add a single member manually: Members Actions > +Add New Member, fill in the Member Profile (Primary Information, Member Directory visibility, Notifications), then Save.

 B. Importing Household Members (only if using Households)

  1. First export your existing Members: Membership > Members > Members Actions > Member Import to download a CSV of current member data.
  2. Download the Household import template: Households > Household Imports > Import Actions > Import Household Members > Download Import Template.
  3. Open both files in a spreadsheet program (Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets).
  4. Copy/paste matching columns from the Member export into the Household Members template:
    • Columns A–C (Email Address, First Name, Last Name) copy together.
    • Columns E–K (Country through ZIP) copy together.
    • The Household template inserts Household Title and Access Type columns in between (D and E) — these are blank at first; you fill them in next.
  5. Fill in Access Type for each row (see rules below).
  6. Fill in Household Title for each row (see rules below).
  7. Save the completed CSV.
  8. Go to Households > Household Imports, click Import Actions > + Import Household Members, click Browse, and select your file.
  9. Click Review Import.
    • Summary — new/current/total addresses, new/updated/current/total households, failed rows.Review the HOUSEHOLDS MEMBERS IMPORT SUMMARY window tabs:
    • Households — new households only (Household Title, Access Type, Street Address, City, member count).
    • Updated Households — appears only when the import updates existing households.
    • Addresses — new addresses only (Address Line 1, Lot #, City, State, ZIP).
    • Failed Rows — rows with errors that will be skipped.
  10. If satisfied, click Import to finalize.

 Household-Specific Considerations Access Type rules

Access Type must be one of five values. Leave it blank and the system automatically assigns Owner.

  • Owner — any person on the property with ownership rights. If more than one owner has a member account, list each as Owner.
  • Renter — for communities whose covenants allow renters.
  • Property Manager — an employee of an HOA management firm managing the community or a specific property.
  • Contractors — a developer who hasn't yet completed or sold the property. Must be entered in plural form ("Contractors") to import correctly.
  • Other — for anything that doesn't fit the above; use it consistently so its meaning stays predictable across your data.

 Household Title rules

Household Title is required and is the unique identifier grouping members into one household.

  • Common choices: property address or owner's last name.
  • If two owners share a last name but own different properties, disambiguate — e.g., "Doe01" and "Doe02" — or use the property address as the title instead.
  • Every member of the same household must have the identical Household Title and Access Type.
  • Address Line 1 must match exactly — same spelling, punctuation, and abbreviation — across all members of a household. Even small variations (e.g., "St." vs "Street") cause the system to create a separate, duplicate household.

 Example patterns from real data

  • Owner + Renter at the same address: the owner and the renter get different Household Titles and different Access Types, even though they share the property address.
  • Two owners, one household: co-owners of the same property get identical Household Title and Access Type.
  • Property manager: listed with Access Type "Property Manager"; the actual owner may not appear in the same data set.
  • Contractor who's also an owner elsewhere: the same person can appear twice — once as "Contractors" for a property they built but don't live in, and once as "Owner" for their own residence.

 Troubleshooting / Common Questions

Do I need the Households feature at all?

Only if you need to solve one of these: duplicate invoice payments when multiple people share a property, one-vote-per-property enforcement, one member owning multiple properties, or routing invoices to a property manager instead of the resident.

What causes rows to fail on Member Import?

Invalid emails (stray spaces, missing "@" or missing domain), malformed ZIP Codes, or emails that don't match required formatting. The Failed Rows tab lists the exact row numbers.

What causes rows to fail on Household Import?

Same email/ZIP issues as above, plus emails that don't match any existing Member record, and invalid Access Type values.

What happens to rows with errors?

The system imports every valid row and skips only the rows with errors — it does not block the whole file. Best practice: fix the CSV and re-upload the corrected rows rather than importing with known errors.

Can I still add members one at a time after a bulk import?

Yes — use Members Actions > +Add New Member any time.

Does enabling Households change registration behavior?

Yes. If you activate the Households feature, the "Automatic Registration Approval" option is permanently removed — all new member applications require manual admin review going forward.

How do I let new members set a password / log in after import?

Go to Membership > Members > Members Actions > Message Filtered Members and use the third toggle to send a system invite message. Use the "Reset Password" and "Only Members Who Haven't Logged In" checkboxes to target only members who've never logged in.

How do I announce the import / site launch to everyone?

Membership > Members > Members Actions > Message Filtered Members, second toggle, to message all members (or just filtered search results if you searched first).