--- title: "Managing Households" description: "Create households, set them active or inactive when residents move, move them between properties, and manage their addresses, PIN, and charges." url: https://support.communitrak.com/en/articles/13-managing-households collection: "Members & Groups for Leaders" updated: 2026-11-05 language: en --- # Managing Households Create households, set them active or inactive when residents move, move them between properties, and manage their addresses, PIN, and charges. A household is the group of members who live together at a property. The **Households** page lists every household in your community, and each household's page is where you manage its status, addresses, members, PIN, and charges. > **Info:** **Note:** This article is for Community Leaders managing every household in the community. If you're a resident adding a spouse, family member, or roommate to your own household, see "Managing Your Household" instead. ## **Who can do this** The Households page and each household's page require the **View Households** permission. Other actions need their own permissions, listed with each action below. Some options may be unavailable or appear differently depending on your level of account access. ## **Open the Households list** 1. Log in to Communitrak at [https://app.communitrak.com](https://app.communitrak.com). 2. In the main navigation menu, expand **Members & Groups** and click **Households**. ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/gkY2zKv5kW1OEnnQEwORkh5RCDAr95o6YXgHVpsQ6BHJi0ReHnlyNGmGyFB0EpmROcEaDOaSYT2.png) ### **Status icons** The icon next to each household name shows its state. Hover over the legend above the table for a description of each. - **Green checkmark** (Active & Activated): the household is active and at least one member has activated their Communitrak account. - **Blue checkmark** (Active, Not Activated): the household is active, but no one has activated their account yet. - **Gray X** (Inactive): the household has been set inactive, usually because it moved out. - **Red trash can** (Deleted): the household has been deleted. ### **Tabs, search, and export** - The **All**, **Active**, **Inactive**, and **Deleted** tabs filter the list. Inactive and Deleted appear only if you have the **Admin View for Members** permission. - The search box matches household names and addresses. - **Export** downloads a CSV of the households currently showing, so pick a tab and search first if you want a subset. It requires the **Export Households** permission. Addresses show as "Hidden" unless you also have Admin View for Members or **View Member Property Address**. - **Columns** opens **Customize Columns**, where you can turn **Members**, **Join Date**, **Balance**, and **Financial Status** on or off. Balance and Financial Status appear only when the Financial module is on and you have **Manage Charges** or **View Community Financials**. The Members column also shows how many members have activated their account. ## **Create a household** Most households are created for you when you invite a new resident (see "Inviting and Onboarding New Members"). Create one here when you need an empty household first. This requires the **Create Household** permission. 1. On the Households page, click **New Household**. 2. Under **Property**, choose the property the household lives at. 3. Enter a **Household Name**, such as "The Smith Household." 4. If the property already has an active household, a warning appears. If the previous residents have moved out, check **Set the existing active household at this property to inactive**. This checkbox appears only if you have the **Update Household Status** permission, and it never sets your own household inactive. 5. Click **Create**. Communitrak opens the new household's page so you can invite its members. You can also create a household from a property's page with **New Household**. ## **The household page** Click a household's name, or the eye icon in the **Actions** column, to open its page. ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/XB5UbZkxhukvE16mKJjFBPBk0ZGJIrxsTXt0hu7mpdjogCxSEnV5najnorY57ebTAbQwbfdffTR.png) ### **Status banner and alias** The banner at the top reads **Active Household** or **Inactive Household**. The pencil icon on the banner changes the status (see "When a household moves out" below). The pencil icon next to the household name edits its **Household Alias**, a display name that replaces the automatically generated one. Leave it blank to go back to the generated name. This requires the **View & Update Household Information** permission. ### **Household Addresses** - **Property Address** links to the property's page. Its pencil icon takes you there to edit the address, which requires the **View & Update Property Information** permission. Changing a property's address changes it for every household at that property. - **Mailing Address** is where mail for this household goes when it differs from the property, for example an owner who rents the home out. It shows "Same as property address" until you set one. Editing it requires View & Update Household Information. ### **Cards on the page** Which cards you see depends on your community's modules and your permissions: - **Household Members**: everyone in the household, with **Head** and **Pending Activation** badges. Click a member to open their profile, which is where you change their status or role. - **Household Vehicles**: when Parking is on and you have **View Vehicle Directory**. - **Household Pets**: when Pets is on. - **Recent Requests & Violations**: when Requests is on and you can view at least one request type (**View General**, **Maintenance**, or **Architectural Requests**) or **View Community Violations**. - **Amenity Reservations**: when Amenities is on and you have **Manage Reservations**. - **Architectural History**: architectural requests for the property, when Requests and Architectural Review are on. This history belongs to the property, so it stays with the address after the household moves out. - **Recent Transactions**: when the Financial module is on and you have View Community Financials. - **Property Location**: a map of the property address. ### **Quick Info** - **Household ID** - **PIN**: the household's access code, which residents see on amenities set to **Household PIN** access. The refresh icon generates a new PIN and stops the old one from working right away. Viewing and refreshing the PIN require View & Update Household Information. - **Join Date**: when the household was created. - **Amount Due**, **Financial Status**, and **Auto Pay**: when the Financial module is on. Amount Due and Financial Status also need Manage Charges or View Community Financials. ### **Available Actions** Each action appears only if you have its permission. - **Invite Member**: invites someone straight into this household by email, as a **Member** or **Head of Household**. Requires **Invite Members** and **Invite Members via Email**, plus **Invite Members via Text Message** if you enter a phone number. - **Send Message**: opens a new message addressed to every member of the household. Requires **Send New Message**. - **Update Mailing Address** and **Update Alias**: the same as the pencil icons above. - **New Charge**: charges one member of the household. Requires **Create a Charge**. See "Posting a Charge to a Member or Household." - **View Transactions**: the household's full transaction history. Requires View Community Financials. - **Move Household**: requires View & Update Household Information or View & Update Property Information. - **Delete Household**: requires the **Delete Household** permission. ## **When a household moves out** When residents sell or leave, set their household inactive rather than deleting it. The household, its members, and its history stay on record as previous residents of the property. 1. Open the household's page. 2. Click the pencil icon on the status banner. 3. In **Update Household Status**, choose **Inactive Household**. 4. Click **Update Status**. This requires the **Update Household Status** permission. Every member of the household then has limited access through it: they can still sign in to see their payment history and messages, but not the rest of the community. If your community uses Access Control, their door access is removed. To bring the household back, follow the same steps and choose **Active Household**. If only one person is leaving and others still live there, set that member inactive from their profile instead. When the new owners arrive, invite them into a new household at the same property. The property then lists the old household under **Previous Households** and the new one under **Current Households**. > **Info:** **Note:** If the household includes a Community Admin, or a member whose role has admin-only permissions, only a Community Admin can set it inactive or active. A household that holds your community's last active Community Admin can't be set inactive. Make someone else a Community Admin first. ## **Move a household to another property** Use this when a household is attached to the wrong property, or when the same family moves to a different home in the community. Its members, charges, and history move with it. Requests, violations, and architectural history stay with the old property, because they belong to the address. 1. On the household's page, click **Move Household**. 2. Choose the **Target Property**. 3. If that property already has an active household, a warning appears. Check **Set the existing active household at this property to inactive** if those residents have moved out. This checkbox appears only if you have the **Update Household Status** permission, and your own household is never set inactive this way. 4. Click **Move Household**. ## **Delete a household** Deleting is for a household created by mistake. Communitrak only lets you delete a household that: - is already set to Inactive, - has no active, inactive, or pending members, and - has no transactions. If any of these isn't true, you'll see a message saying why. A household that had real residents almost always has members or transactions, so leave it inactive instead. Deleted households move to the **Deleted** tab and can't be restored from the app. ## **Things to know** - A property can have more than one active household, for example a duplex or a family living in an accessory unit. Communitrak warns you when you create or move a household onto an occupied property, but doesn't stop you. - An owner with several properties has a separate household at each one under a single login. See "Inviting and Onboarding New Members." - Most actions on this page are unavailable while your community's Communitrak subscription is in read-only mode. If you have questions or need help, chat with Communitrak Support from any page using the messenger icon in the bottom-right corner.