Property managers answer resident questions all day. Those conversations go faster when you can picture exactly what the resident is looking at — the buttons, the labels, the empty states, the things that aren't where they expect them to be.
This article walks through the resident portal screen by screen, from the PM's perspective. The portal lives at my.parkingpass.com — the same URL you use, but with a completely different layout once a resident logs in.
How to See What the Resident Sees
ParkingPass includes a Login As User feature that lets you view the portal exactly as the resident does. It's the fastest way to investigate something a resident is describing.
Where to find it
Open the resident's profile.
Click Quick Actions at the top right.
Choose Login As User.
A blue banner appears at the top of every page: "You are currently impersonating [Resident Name]" with an Exit Impersonation button. The sidebar shows the resident's name and role and includes a Log back in as [your name] shortcut. Everything else on screen is what the resident sees when they log in.
When it's available
Login As User appears on Active resident profiles. If the resident is still Pending, the option doesn't show — there's no portal to log into yet.
When to use it
"I can't find where to add a vehicle." — Log in as them, walk to the page they're looking at, see what they're missing.
"The button you mentioned isn't there." — Their portal may look different than what you describe (different property configuration, different account state). Confirm what they're actually seeing.
Training a new staff member — Walk them through the resident experience so they know what residents are reading.
Verifying a recent change — After updating a rule or sending an announcement, log in as a resident to confirm what they actually see.
The Resident Portal at a Glance
When a resident logs in, they see a sidebar with these top-level items (some have submenus):
Dashboard
My Account / Vehicles
Payment System — submenu: Make A Payment, Manage Payment Methods, Purchase Addons, Manage Addons, Manage Autopay, Payment History
Guest/Rental Vehicles — submenu: Register Guest/Rental, Invite My Guest, My Friends & Family, My Guest Passes
View Parking Policy
My Violations
Help / Support
Profile — submenu: Edit Profile, My Activity, My Email Log
There's also a floating Message Property Management button in the top right of every page, and a chat-style help widget in the bottom right.
Dashboard (Home)
The first screen the resident sees after logging in.
What's on it
Four large quick-action buttons across the top:
Register Guest/Rental (red)
Update My Vehicles (blue)
View Parking Rules (green)
I Need Help! (orange)
Two summary cards:
Resident Vehicles — a count of vehicles on their account.
Vehicle Change Requests — a count of pending change requests they've submitted.
Message Property Management floating button — top right.
Common questions about this screen
"Where do I see my permits?" — Permits are on the My Account / Vehicles page (also reachable through Update My Vehicles).
"Where do I see my guest passes?" — Under Guest/Rental Vehicles → My Guest Passes.
"How do I report a problem?" — Either the I Need Help! button or the Message Property Management floating button.
My Account / Vehicles
The main vehicle-management screen for the resident.
What's on it
Header — Resident name on the left, property name on the right.
Two buttons: Parking Policy and Update My Info.
Three notification pills showing which channels are enabled: Email Notifications, SMS Notifications, Voice Notifications. Green indicates the channel is on.
My Vehicles table with the heading "You can add a maximum of [N] vehicles per unit" and an Add button:
Vehicle Info (year, make, model, color)
License Plate (with an edit icon)
VIN
Vehicle Status (e.g., Active - Permit Purchased)
Parking e-Permit Expiration date
Select Action dropdown: Update/Change Vehicle, Remove Vehicle
Other Vehicles Associated With My Account — a collapsible section (expand with +) showing vehicles registered to other residents at the same address. Useful for households where multiple people share a unit.
Common questions
"How do I change my plate?" — Select Action → Update/Change Vehicle on the relevant row.
"My permit expired." — Visible in the Parking e-Permit Expiration column. Renewals flow through the standard process.
"I don't see my spouse's car." — Their spouse may have it registered on their own account; the Other Vehicles Associated With My Account section shows household-level vehicles.
"I want to turn off SMS notifications." — That's under Update My Info (the Profile editor).
Payment System
A submenu with six pages. Most residents only use a few:
Make A Payment
Where residents go to pay for a permit, add-on, or other charge. Stripe-backed checkout.
Manage Payment Methods
Saved cards and ACH details for future payments. Residents can add, remove, or set a default.
Purchase Addons
Optional purchases beyond the base permit (additional vehicle slots, premium features, paid guest passes — depending on property configuration).
Manage Addons
Existing add-ons the resident currently has, with cancel/renew options.
Manage Autopay
Toggle automatic recurring payments on or off, and choose which payment method to use.
Payment History
A list of all past transactions: type, status (Completed, Refunded, etc.), amount, date, and a Receipt link. This is where residents look when they need a receipt for reimbursement or want to confirm whether a payment went through.
Common questions
"Did my payment go through?" — Payment History shows the status.
"Where's my receipt?" — Click the Receipt link on the relevant row in Payment History.
"I want to turn off autopay." — Manage Autopay.
"I need to change the card on file." — Manage Payment Methods.
Guest/Rental Vehicles
Submenu with four pages for managing visitors and rental cars.
Register Guest/Rental
The most common starting point. Residents use this to create a guest pass for a visitor's vehicle, or to register their own rental car when their personal vehicle is out of service. (See Permit Types Explained for the rental-car case.)
Invite My Guest
Sends an invitation to a guest so they can self-register their vehicle for the visit.
My Friends & Family
A saved list of frequent guests, so residents don't have to re-enter the same vehicle every time.
My Guest Passes
The current list of active guest passes the resident has on file, with expirations.
Common questions
"How do I add my parents who are visiting next weekend?" — Register Guest/Rental, fill in the dates and vehicle.
"My friend visits often — do I have to re-register them every time?" — Add them to My Friends & Family.
"How many passes do I have left this month?" — Reflected in My Guest Passes against the property's policy.
View Parking Policy
The full parking policy for the property, formatted for resident readability. This is what residents actually see when they look up the rules.
What's on the page
Property name at the top.
PDF export button.
Resident Vehicle Policy — A short policy block (typically references the lease agreement and association governing documents).
Global Guest Policy — Policy By (e.g., License Plate), Pass Type (Daily/Weekly/etc.), Guest Vehicles Allowed Per Unit, Guest Pass Reset cadence.
Free Guest Policy — Guest Pass Limit per period (the number of free passes a resident has before any paid ones apply).
Parking Rules — Each rule has:
A name (e.g., "Banned Vehicle", "Parked in Fire lane", "Parked in Handicap Area (No Placard)")
A severity badge (SEVERE, etc.)
Enforcement actions (Immediate Tow, warning escalation, etc.)
Special adjustments (e.g., disabled-veteran exemptions on accessibility violations)
Last updated timestamp on the rule set.
Common questions
"What's the rule about [X]?" — Search the parking rules list.
"Why was I towed for being there 'just a minute'?" — Many violations are tagged SEVERE with Immediate Tow as the enforcement action; the policy page is where residents can confirm this.
"Can I get the policy in writing?" — They can use the PDF export button at the top.
My Violations
A history of any enforcement actions associated with the resident's account.
What's on the page
My Violations History — View and manage your parking violations header.
Your Violations section listing each violation, or an empty state.
Empty state: A green checkmark and "No Violations Found — Great news! You currently have no parking violations on record. Keep up the good work following parking regulations."
Common questions
"How do I dispute this citation?" — From My Violations, opening the violation gives access to the dispute workflow. See Citation Disputes.
"I don't see the violation you mentioned." — Confirm they're looking at the right account; violations are tied to the resident profile, so a violation issued under a guest pass may show on the host resident's account.
Help / Support and Message Property Management
Residents have two ways to ask for help, and they're different:
Help / Support sidebar link
Opens the resident-facing support form. Used for general platform issues, technical problems, or account help.
Message Property Management floating button
Top-right button on every page. Sends a message directly to the property's management team — not to ParkingPass support. This is where residents go with property-specific questions (rule clarifications, billing exceptions, dispute conversations).
Why the distinction matters
If a resident says "I sent you a message and never heard back," confirm which channel they used. A message to Property Management goes to you; a message to Help/Support goes to ParkingPass.
Profile
Submenu with three pages residents use less often, but worth knowing:
Edit Profile
Where residents update their own name, email, phone number, password, and notification preferences. Same destination as the Update My Info button on the My Account page.
My Activity
A resident-side view of their account activity — a slimmed-down version of what you see in their User History on the PM side.
My Email Log
The resident can see emails the system has sent them. Useful when a resident says "I never got the email" — they can check their own log before assuming it wasn't sent.
Things That Sometimes Surprise PMs
The portal layout differs slightly by property
Properties with paid guest passes will see additional Payment System options. Properties using Assigned Parking will see additional vehicle-related items. Properties without revenue-share features won't show those sections. If a resident describes a screen that doesn't match what you expect, log in as them and confirm.
The home dashboard is action-focused, not information-focused
Residents land on a screen with four big buttons. They don't see permit details, payment history, or violation status on the dashboard — those live one level in.
"Update My Info" and "Edit Profile" go to the same place
The button on My Account/Vehicles and the sidebar Profile → Edit Profile both open the resident's account editor. If a resident says "I don't see the field you mentioned," confirm they're on the right tab within that editor.
Other Vehicles Associated With My Account is collapsible
It's a "+" at the bottom of the My Vehicles list. Residents miss it because it doesn't expand by default. If a resident is looking for a family member's car and doesn't see it, the answer is often "expand the section."
The Message Property Management button is easy to miss
It floats in the top-right corner of every page, which residents on smaller screens or with browser zoom sometimes scroll past without seeing.
The chat widget at the bottom isn't the same as Message Property Management
The bottom-right "Hi, need any help?" widget is an Intercom chat. Where it routes depends on configuration — confirm with ParkingPass support if you're unsure where messages from that widget land.
Common Resident Questions and Where to Look
"How do I add a vehicle?"
My Account / Vehicles → Add button. They'll need vehicle details and may need to upload registration documents depending on property configuration.
"How do I pay?"
Payment System → Make A Payment. The Make A Payment button generally surfaces what's currently owed.
"My permit isn't active even though I paid."
Check the resident's vehicle in My Account / Vehicles — Vehicle Status field. If it shows Pending, your office may need to approve. If it shows Active - Permit Purchased, the payment worked.
"How do I add a guest?"
Guest/Rental Vehicles → Register Guest/Rental.
"How many guest passes do I have left?"
Guest/Rental Vehicles → My Guest Passes shows active passes; the parking policy page shows the limit.
"How do I dispute a violation?"
My Violations → click into the violation → dispute workflow.
"How do I cancel autopay?"
Payment System → Manage Autopay.
"Who do I contact about a parking issue?"
Message Property Management button (top-right) for property-specific questions; Help / Support for platform issues.
Important Notes
Login As User is on Active resident profiles only. Pending residents don't yet have a portal to log into.
Always exit impersonation when you're done — the banner at the top of every page makes it visible, but a forgotten impersonation can cause confusion.
Impersonation logs every page you visit on the resident's behalf to their User History and User Page Views. See Activity History and Logs.
Residents at properties with different feature sets see different portal layouts. The walkthrough above describes the most common configuration; your specific properties may show more or fewer sections.
The resident portal evolves over time. If a section described here doesn't match what you see when impersonating, the product has likely shifted — flag it through Provide Feedback so this article can be updated.