Overview
A unit relationship describes how a person is connected to a property (lot/unit) in your community. Each relationship type controls:
What records are created - ownership (
UnitOwnership), occupancy (UnitOccupancy), or bothWhat organization role is auto-assigned - portal permissions (ACC, documents, billing, etc.)
How the person appears in communication routing - who receives assessments, notices, emergencies, etc.
Relationship rules are configured under General Settings → Roles and Permissions → Unit Relationship Defaults. You can rename any relationship's display label (e.g., change "Designated Contact" to "Property Manager") without changing how the system behaves.
⚡️ Quick comparison
Records Created
Relationship | Ownership | Occupancy | Primary residence |
Owner-Occupant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Owner / Lot Owner | Yes | No | — |
Guest Occupant | No | Yes | Yes |
Renter | No | Yes | Yes |
Designated Contact | No | Yes | No |
Caretaker | No | Yes | Yes |
Guest | No | Yes | No |
Roles & Primary Contact
Relationship | Auto role | Primary contact* |
Owner-Occupant | Resident | Yes |
Owner / Lot Owner | Resident | Yes |
Guest Occupant | Resident | No |
Renter | Renter | No |
Designated Contact | None | No |
Caretaker | Caretaker | No |
Guest | None | No |
* Primary contact is the financially responsible party for the unit (assessments, delinquency notices, certified mail). Only owners can be designated primary contact.
Occupant-only relationships (renters, caretakers, designated contacts, guests) cannot. Additionally, anyone with a current ownership record automatically receives the system-managed Owner organization role (voting, billing, etc.), synced from ownership data - independent of the default role mapping above.
⭐️ Owner-Occupant
Intended use: A person who both owns the unit and lives there.
What gets created:
Ownership record (
UnitOwnership)Occupancy record (
UnitOccupancy, type: Owner-Occupant)isPrimaryResidence= true
Default organization role: Resident
Also receives: Owner role (auto-synced from ownership)
Communication routing:
Receives all owner communications (financial, notices, governance, certified mail)
Included in emergency communications
Eligible to be designated primary contact for the unit
Portal access: Full resident + owner experience - My Property, My Portfolio, ACC requests, documents, billing, autopay, voting (subject to election eligibility rules).
Common scenarios: Homeowner living in their lot; board member who lives in the community.
⭐️ Owner / Lot Owner
Intended use: A person who owns the unit but does not live there (absentee owner, investor, landlord).
What gets created:
Ownership record only — no occupancy record
Default organization role: Resident
Also receives: Owner role (auto-synced from ownership)
Communication routing:
Receives all owner communications (financial, notices, governance, certified mail)
Included in emergency communications
Eligible to be designated primary contact for the unit
Portal access: Full resident + owner experience including My Portfolio and billing. The person is linked to the unit as an owner, not as an occupant.
Common scenarios: Landlord who owns but rents out; seasonal owner; entity representative with ownership interest.
Note: If the owner also lives at the property, use Owner-Occupant instead.
⭐️ Guest Occupant
Intended use: Someone living at the property who is not the owner — a long-term guest, adult family member, or other non-owner occupant.
What gets created:
Occupancy record only (
UnitOccupancy, type: Guest Occupant)isPrimaryResidence= true
Default organization role: Resident
Communication routing:
Does not receive owner-only communications (assessments, violation notices, certified mail, governance)
Included in emergency communications (alongside owners)
May be included in automations configured to send to "property residents"
Portal access: Standard resident access — ACC requests, documents, My Property (not My Portfolio/billing, unless separately granted).
Cannot: Vote in elections, be designated primary contact, or appear in owner-only billing views (unless also listed as an owner).
Common scenarios: Adult child living in parent's unit; extended family member; non-owner household member.
⭐️ Renter
Intended use: A tenant or lessee occupying the unit under a rental agreement.
What gets created:
Occupancy record only (
UnitOccupancy, type: Renter)isPrimaryResidence= trueSupports lease start/end dates on the occupancy record
Default organization role: Renter
Communication routing:
Does not receive owner-only communications
Included in emergency communications
May be included in automations configured to send to "property residents"
Portal access: Renter role — can submit ACC requests, view community documents and events, view own notices. Cannot vote in elections. No access to owner billing/financial views (My Portfolio).
Cannot: Vote, be designated primary contact, or receive assessment/billing notices (those go to the owner).
Common scenarios: Tenant in a leased unit; short- or long-term rental.
⭐️ Designated Contact
Intended use: A contact person for a unit who does not live there — e.g., a family member managing a property remotely, or a point of contact for an absentee owner.
What gets created:
Occupancy record only (
UnitOccupancy, type: Designated Contact)isPrimaryResidence= false (not treated as living at the property)
Default organization role: None (no automatic portal role)
Communication routing:
Does not receive owner-only communications (assessments, violations, certified mail, governance)
Included in emergency communications (alongside owners — additive, not a replacement)
May be included in automations configured to send to "property residents"
Does not replace or bypass the owner as primary contact
Portal access: None by default. Assign an organization role manually, or configure a default role under Unit Relationship Defaults, if portal access is needed.
Cannot: Vote, be designated primary contact, receive billing/assessment notices, or access My Portfolio (unless given a role separately).
Common scenarios: Adult child managing parent's vacant lot; out-of-state contact for a rental property; secondary point of contact listed alongside the owner.
Tip: You can rename this relationship to "Property Manager" (or any label) under Unit Relationship Defaults. That changes the display name only, not the behavior.
Caretaker
Intended use: A property caretaker, house sitter, or on-site property manager who needs to act on behalf of the unit in the portal.
What gets created:
Occupancy record only (
UnitOccupancy, type: Caretaker)isPrimaryResidence= true
Default organization role: Caretaker
Communication routing:
Does not receive owner-only communications
Included in emergency communications
May be included in automations configured to send to "property residents"
Portal access: Caretaker role — similar to Resident for unit-level actions:
Submit ACC requests
View community documents
View unit financials, upload property documents, edit home details
View and manage autopay settings
Cannot: Vote in elections or be designated primary contact (unless also listed as an owner). Caretaker financial/autopay access does not make them legally responsible for assessments — the owner remains the billing party.
Common scenarios: On-site property manager for a leased unit; house sitter; caretaker for an elderly owner; third-party manager who needs portal access.
Designated Contact vs. Caretaker: Use Designated Contact for a remote/extra contact who mainly needs to be reachable. Use Caretaker when someone needs to actively manage the unit in the portal (ACC, documents, maintenance coordination).
Guest
Intended use: A temporary guest or visitor with a short-term link to the unit.
What gets created:
Occupancy record only (
UnitOccupancy, type: Guest)isPrimaryResidence= false
Default organization role: None (no automatic portal role)
Communication routing:
Does not receive owner-only communications
Included in emergency communications
May be included in automations configured to send to "property residents"
Portal access: None by default. Assign a role manually if needed.
Cannot: Vote, be designated primary contact, or access billing (unless given a role separately).
Common scenarios: Short-term visitor; temporary house guest; seasonal guest with limited community involvement.
Guest vs. Guest Occupant: Guest is for temporary/limited links with no portal role. Guest Occupant is for a non-owner who actually lives at the property and receives full Resident portal access.
How communication routing works
The system splits unit communications into buckets. Relationship type affects whether someone is treated as an owner or occupant - not which specific subtype they are (renter vs. caretaker vs. designated contact are all "occupants" for this purpose).
Communication type | Who receives it |
Financial - assessments, invoices, fines, payment notices | Current owners only |
Notices - violations, cure reminders, certified letters | Current owners only (certified mail → primary owner) |
Governance - voting, board communications | Current owners only |
General - general HOA/unit communications | Current owners only |
Emergency - urgent operational issues | Current owners + all current occupants (every relationship type above) |
Key points:
Occupant-only relationships never replace owners in financial or legal communications.
Emergency alerts go to both owners and occupants — adding a designated contact or caretaker does not remove the owner from the list.
Email automations using "property owner" target owners only; "property residents" target owners and all occupants.
Customizing relationship defaults
Under General Settings → Roles and Permissions → Unit Relationship Defaults, admins can:
Change the display name - e.g., rename "Designated Contact" to "Property Manager." This updates labels throughout the admin UI and People pages. Behavior is unchanged.
Set a default organization role - choose which role is auto-assigned when someone is given that relationship. Choose "No automatic role" to require manual role assignment.
Assign additional roles manually - from the All People page, regardless of relationship defaults.
The Owner organization role is managed separately: it is automatically assigned and revoked based on current ownership records, not the relationship-defaults table.
Entity / Fractional Ownership
Properties using Entity Ownership (LLC, trust, fractional interests) follow a parallel track:
Legal notice and billing recipients come from entity representatives (configured on the Entity Ownership panel), not from the unit relationship dropdown alone.
Representatives can optionally be added to Property People with a relationship type (Designated Contact is the default when adding a representative to the people list).
Primary contact and certified-mail routing for entity-owned units are managed through entity representative flags (
Primary Contact,Can Receive Legal Notices, etc.).
Choosing the right relationship
Scenario | Recommended relationship |
Homeowner living in their unit | Owner-Occupant |
Absentee / investor owner | Owner / Lot Owner |
Tenant with lease | Renter |
Non-owner living at the property (family, roommate) | Guest Occupant |
Remote contact / family managing from afar | Designated Contact |
On-site manager or caretaker needing portal access | Caretaker |
Short-term visitor, minimal access | Guest |
Third-party PM needing ACC/docs/billing access | Caretaker (or Designated Contact + manual role) |
Where to edit:
Visit the detail page of a person from All People - Click the person
Look below the Profile Info
Find Associated Units
Dropdown select the person's relationship with the property
‼️ Important:
Relationship with the Property is NOT the same as Roles which are configured separately. See below for the Roles selector in the Person's detail page.
⭐️ Remember:
Relationship in Associated Units answers "Who is this person relative to this property?
Roles for a person answers the question: "What can this person DO in the organization?
They may seem related and that is understandable, but they serve different purposes.