How Do I Know PayHOA is Safe and Secure?

Your self managed HOA will collect a lot of sensitive information every day. Birth dates, addresses, contact information and banking info (in some cases) may be some of the personal data your HOA gathers from each resident. It’s incredibly important that your organization takes every measure to protect that data and ensure its safety. 

Because HOAs possess so much sensitive information and have a reputation for being low-tech, they are a prime target for disastrous cyber attacks. 

Some HOAs rely on cobbled-together systems and spreadsheets to handle their organization’s management needs, or they hand everything over to a third-party management company. While both of these options may seem more convenient for HOA volunteers at the moment, they pose a much greater risk of a data breach or loss. 

Only self managed HOA software like PayHOA provides a centrally located, safe, and secure platform for your organization’s HOA management needs. 

Table of contents

Bank-level security 

Smarter storage

Permission-based access

Legal compliance with data protection laws 

Bank-level security 

Self managed HOA software allows you to manage your organization’s finances through easy-to-use accounting tools. Collecting dues online is not only easier, it is also a more secure method than using checks or cash. 

Payments through PayHOA are 100% secure, as they are Level 1 PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant. This is the highest and most stringent standard level for organizations that handle credit card information. 

PayHOA’s Level 1 PCI compliance means that your residents’ credit card data is protected through a variety of cybersecurity measures, including firewalls, encryption, and antivirus software. 

With this standard of security, any transactions through PayHOA offer the most protection any online financial transaction can offer. 

Homeowners can pay their monthly dues through their online portal either with a credit card or by setting up autopay drafts. PayHOA does not store credit card or banking information within the system. Residents can have confidence their bank information is safe and inaccessible by any HOA volunteers (or outsiders). 

This is much more secure than writing checks or using cash to pay for monthly dues, fines, or fees. Using a check means the homeowners’ bank information is available to anyone who handles it. Cash is even less secure, as it can easily be misplaced, mixed up with personal funds, or make the holder a target for petty theft.  

Managing your organization’s finances through self managed HOA software also allows your organization to maintain a high level of financial transparency more securely. 

By syncing your HOA’s bank account with PayHOA, you can use the software’s various financial reports to keep an eye on your organization’s budget, profits, and other monetary figures. Every volunteer won’t need a login to the online bank account to handle accounting tasks or check financial reports. They can simply view the most up-to-date data without having access to the banking tools. The fewer people you have to put on your online banking account, the lower the risk of mishandling funds. 

Smarter storage 

HOAs accumulate a lot of files and documentation. From your CC&Rs and bylaws to the contact information and addresses for your residents, there’s a lot of important data and documents to keep track of and store safely. 

Many organizations without self managed HOA software rely on their personal devices to store these important documents. Using this storage method, your files are only as secure as the devices they’re on. This also complicates file sharing. Using email to transfer sensitive data is a big cybersecurity risk and inadvisable for transferring sensitive information between parties. 

Using self managed HOA software to store your information means everyone on the HOA team can access and update any information they need at any time. It’s safer, more convenient, and more convenient than relying on spreadsheets and emails. Since it’s cloud-based, your data is backed up and available wherever you can log in. 

Permission-based access 

If you’re relying on spreadsheets or disparate systems to accomplish your HOA management tasks, often one person is in charge of certain tasks or owns specific documents. For example, one HOA volunteer may take care of accounting, while another keeps resident contact info up to date. 

This management style exposes the HOA to a lot of security risks. 

If the person in charge decides to forgo their duties, when they leave, all of the information is at their discretion. Whether they turn over all of their documents in good shape is up to them. 

A similar issue exists when using a third-party property manager to run your HOA. During your contract, they often control the data, meaning you have to ask for permission to see your own information. Getting back your data can be even more complicated once you terminate their contract. 

With HOA software, you can divide up the responsibilities within the system, so that all appropriate parties have access to the information they need. Specific permissions for each user allow for more efficient workflow, as it allows multiple volunteers to work on the same projects, preventing bottlenecking or forgotten work. 

Some software only allows for only one user profile per organization, which results in multiple volunteers sharing a username and password. This is a huge cybersecurity risk. With self managed HOA software, you can set up personal accounts for every volunteer on your team. And if someone leaves, it’s easy to deactivate their account, and the information isn’t lost.

Transitions are a part of life. Using self managed HOA software allows you to seamlessly move through these changes while retaining all of your precious data.  

Legal compliance with data protection laws 

Your residents trust you to maintain the privacy of their information when they join the HOA. It’s your HOA’s responsibility to protect that information.  

Hardly any states require HOAs to outline their data protection policies in their governing documents, but many states have general data protection laws that HOAs must adhere to. 

Even if your state doesn’t have specific laws about privacy, it’s a general digital age courtesy to protect your residents’ data with as much precaution as possible. There are far too many data breaches that leave people exposed and vulnerable. 

Our website uses 256-bit encryption to protect your personal data. Cybersecurity experts consider 256-bit encryption to be basically unbreakable, as the computation required to break the length of the code is unreachable by even the fastest computers. It is used in most modern encryption algorithms, protocols, and technologies, including Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). 

Running a self managed HOA is enough work without having to worry about the integrity of your data.ause of this, self managed HOA software should provide a safe place for your HOA’s data. At PayHOA, we clearly outline our privacy policy so you can trust we handle your information securely.  

PayHOA offers an HOA management software solution for HOAs of any size or managerial priorities. To find out if PayHOA fits all your HOA management needs, try our software free for 30 days.