How do I pay my assessment?

An assessment is the regular amount every owner in a community pays toward shared costs — insurance, landscaping, water, repairs, and money set aside for future work.

It is set by your association's board as part of a budget, and it is charged to the home rather than to the person. Roam does not set it, and Roam cannot change it. We hold the record and take the payment on your association's behalf.

If your question is why the amount is what it is, start with Why do I owe this?

The amount. Compare it against your most recent statement, not against what you paid last year. Assessments change when a budget changes, usually at the start of a fiscal year.

What it covers. A single balance can include a regular assessment, a special assessment, a fine, and any late fee or interest already applied. If you pay only part of it, the order the money is applied in is set by your association's rules and by your state's law — not by you, and not by Roam. Some states require a partial payment to go to your assessments first, before any late fee, interest or collection cost. If a partial payment of yours was applied to fees first, you can ask your association in writing to re-apply it.

Who you are paying. Payments go to your association, not to Roam. If a letter, email, or page asks you to send money to an individual, to a company you have not heard of, by gift card or cryptocurrency, or to bank details that have "changed", stop and confirm with your manager on a number you already had. See I got an email from Roam. Is it real?

Which of these your association offers is their decision, and the portal shows the ones available to you. If you cannot sign in, your manager can tell you what is accepted — see How do I get access to the resident portal?

• From the resident portal. A one-off payment, using a method the portal shows you.
• Bank transfer or your own bank's bill pay. Using the payee details your association gives you. See the warning below about bill pay, which is the most common way a payment goes missing.
• By mailed check, to the address on your statement — not to a manager's personal address, and not to an address given in an email you were not expecting.

Your association may also accept a phone payment or an in-office payment. Ask; it is not something Roam decides.

These are the steps to pay your assessment online, as a resident.

1. Sign in to the resident portal and open Payments from the menu. On a phone, tap Payment in the bar at the bottom of the screen.
2. On the Current Balance card, choose Make a Payment. You can also start from the Make a Payment button on your home page.
3. Under Select an amount, choose Current balance, or choose Other amount and type the amount you want to pay. Other amount only appears if your association accepts part payments.
4. Under Select a payment date, pick the date you want the payment made.
5. Check the Payment Method. To use a different one, choose Change. To add a new one, choose Add New Method, pick US Bank Account or Card, enter the details, and save. If you have no saved payment method yet, the button reads Add Payment Method — add one first.
6. Choose Pay Now.
7. On the Review Payment screen, check the amount, the date and the method, then choose Submit Payment. If you are paying by card, enter your card details on the Card Payment screen and choose Submit Payment again.
8. When you see Thank you, all set!, your payment has been sent. Choose Print Receipt to keep a copy, or Return to Payments.

On a phone the steps are the same, but the buttons read Next and then Submit.

If you cannot see Make a Payment at all, online payment may not be available for your account. Ask your association how they would like you to pay.

A portal payment may carry a processing fee. It is charged by the payment processor, not by your association and not by Roam. If you are not sure whether a fee applies, ask your association before you pay.

Paying by check or by your own bank's bill pay normally avoids a processing fee, though your bank may charge you separately.

This is the single most common reason a payment "disappears".

Many banks' bill pay does not send money electronically. They print a paper check and mail it, often with only your name on it and no account or property reference. It arrives at your association's lockbox or office as an unidentified check, and it can sit unmatched while your account still shows the amount as unpaid.

To avoid it:

• Put your account number or property address in the memo or reference field, exactly as it appears on your statement.
• Set the payee name and address exactly as your statement gives them.
• Allow extra days. A mailed check is slower than the date your bank shows as "sent".
• Keep the confirmation number your bank gives you. It is what lets anyone trace the payment.

• Portal payments wait under Pending Payments until they clear, then move to History. Your payment is done when it shows in History. If it is still pending after a few business days, ask your association.
• Bank transfers and checks appear once your association's bank has posted them and the payment has been matched to your account. That can take several days, and longer over a weekend or a holiday.

A payment that has not appeared after about a week is worth asking about, particularly if you sent it from your own bank. The usual cause is a missing or mistyped reference: the money has been received but not matched to your home.

When you ask, give the amount, the date you sent it, how you sent it, and any confirmation or check number. That is what makes a payment findable.

Whatever method you use, keep something that shows you paid: the portal's confirmation, your bank's confirmation number, or the cleared check. Take a screenshot rather than relying on being able to find it again.

If a payment is ever disputed, the proof is what settles it — and it is much easier to save now than to reconstruct later.

If your own bank sends a fixed amount each month, update it whenever your assessment changes. It does not update itself, and the difference quietly becomes arrears. If you sell the home, remember to stop it.

Ask your association or manager. They can see the individual charges behind the balance and explain them. Roam holds the record; your association decides what is owed, and only they can change it.

Ask for an itemized statement showing each charge, each payment, and the balance after each one. That single document answers most questions without a conversation. See Why do I owe this?

Say so before the due date rather than after, in writing. Paying part of it is usually better than paying nothing, and telling your association what you can pay and when is what makes an arrangement possible.

See What happens if I pay late or fall behind?

See Something is wrong with my account. Who do I contact?