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Yeah, with townhomes, you're pretty much guaranteed an HOA, because there's not much other way to tell people that they need to fix their roof in order to prevent water from coming into your house. And other similar things that have to do with sharing the same building.

How do the British deal with this sort of thing in regards to, uh, terraces(?)?

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Then of course you have all the Party Wall regulations and act.

http://www.diydata.com/planning/party_wall_act/party_wall_act.php

Meh, I though this had to do with a party!

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The HOA recently dealt with some major roof repairs across all six units

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Current cost of re-shingling the roof once every 20 years: $3400.

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Am I right in assuming that the use of exterior building materials such as ash felt and wood are, by and large, for economic reasons? Even if the home-owner doesn't plan on staying in the property for 20+years, the resale price will take into account the condition of the degraded roof (or 'siding' for that matter). What is the reason for building with something so "short-term", concrete tiles would be a better bet, surely? Perhaps asking the structure to bear the additional weight is a cost factor here?

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House prices are generally based on (1) location, (2) location, and (3) location.

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That's kind of the point I was trying to make. The value of the "nice" house's location has decreased significantly since the "Clampetts" moved in next door. The owner has suffered a monetary loss due to actions of a third party, and he has no recourse under local laws (this is Alaska, after all, where independence sometimes runs amok) to obtain alleviation or compensation.

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The HOA recently dealt with some major roof repairs across all six units

HOA fees for two years: $150 * 12 * 2 = $3600.

Current cost of re-shingling the roof once every 20 years: $3400.

Mmm..

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There are, after all, probably still places in both the US and the UK where (sadly) house prices would go down if a black family moved in next door. Loss of house value alone cannot be a legally actionable event, chaos would ensue.

Well said, Peter. In my heart I'm sure you're wrong, but you state your case so elegantly that I am at a loss to refute it.

There must be a line somewhere that even you wouldn't cross. OK, a messy yard doesn't cross it. How about a situation where the Clampetts decide that it is too expensive to replace their septic system and let raw sewage stand in execrable pools on their property? Maybe they want to start up a metal stamping operation, keeping everybody awake in a quarter mile radius? No, these are weak examples, because in the first the health authorities would step in, and the second would run afoul of zoning regulations pertaining to businesses in a residential area, and not have anything to do with preserving the quality of the neighborhood.

I'm sure, however, that there must be some circumstance, even though confined physically to the "offenders' " property, that would merit preventative action on the part of some authority or other. Or, maybe not. Is this just a small expansion of the "...window blinds the wrong color" scenario that started this thread?

tanstaafl.

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Maybe they want to start up a metal stamping operation, keeping everybody awake in a quarter mile radius? No, these are weak examples, because ... [it] would run afoul of zoning regulations pertaining to businesses in a residential area, and not have anything to do with preserving the quality of the neighborhood.