What is KYC?
KYC stands for "Know Your Customer." It is an identity verification process required by Stripe (PayHOA's payment processor) before your association can accept online payments from homeowners. If KYC is incomplete or contains errors, homeowners will be unable to submit payments.
Where to complete KYC
KYC verification is completed in your PayHOA account under Settings → Payment Setup (or the KYC / Account Verification section). You will be prompted to enter your association's legal business information, which Stripe uses to verify your identity.
What information is required
The information you enter must match your IRS documentation exactly — including capitalization and punctuation. Common fields include:
Legal Business Name — Enter the name exactly as it appears on your EIN letter or IRS documents
EIN (Employer Identification Number) — Required for most associations. Do not substitute a personal Social Security Number if the association has an EIN
Business type — Typically "Non-Profit" or the appropriate entity type for your HOA
Business address — The registered address for the association
Sole proprietors and property managers without an EIN
If you are a sole proprietor managing an HOA account and do not have a separate business EIN, enter your legal personal name (not a business name) and your Social Security Number in the relevant fields. Using a business name when the IRS records show a personal name is a common reason KYC fails.
Common reasons KYC fails
Business name does not match IRS records exactly (even small differences like "HOA" vs "Homeowners Association" can cause a mismatch)
EIN entered incorrectly or with formatting differences (hyphens, spaces)
Using a personal SSN for a business account that has an EIN, or vice versa
Using a business/trade name instead of the legal entity name
How long does verification take?
In most cases, Stripe verifies the information quickly. Once verification is approved on the backend, your PayHOA account may take a short time to reflect the updated status. If verification appears approved in Stripe but hasn't updated in PayHOA yet, you're good to go — homeowners can proceed with payments.
Still having trouble?
Contact support@payhoa.com. The support team can review your KYC status on the backend and help identify what's causing the mismatch.