Shared Fencing Between Homes - how involved does your HOA get?

As the property manager in a community of 721 single family homes, I am curious about something that has recently come up a few times due to the community's age (18 years).

Many homeowners are starting to replace their fences. Most homes have some shared fencing that runs the property lines on the side or rear of the property which abuts a neighbor. The fences were built in "good-neighbor" style (alternating panels) which is specified in the ACC guidelines; the restrictive covenants state that that fences "shall be maintained in good condition at all times by the owner of the lot."

On a number of occasions in the last year, owners have come to the HOA to ask about requirements for fencing as they wish to replace their worn out fences. They also seem to think the HOA will take care of everything for them, including making all neighbors ante up, so to speak.

The HOA has a hands-off policy when it comes to getting involved in mediating between neighbors and who pays for what section, etc.)

I was curious as to how other HOAs handle it.

I agree - costs should be shared between homes, but do some HOAs get involved beyond saying the fence needs to be replaced (which is difficult to know if it isn't visible from the street - but that's another post)? I believe some of the homeowners would like the HOA to contact everyone involved and actually make them pay their fair share, which is a bit much. The HOA can state the fence must be repaired or replaces, but not get involved in the hows, whens, and how much is paid by whom.

Our HOA we approved fences and told the owner when it needed repair/maintenance. Otherwise the expense of installing/maintaining/repair fell onto the owner who installed the fence. We had a tree that fell over from a neighbors yard over to the other house. It got the fence in between. The HOA paid for the clean up of the tree/fence removal. Otherwise we did not pay for anything related to the fence.

As a property manager in FL I get involved to the extent of approving the type, height, etc. of the fence, but I don't get involved in neighbor disputes even though they often try to drag me in.

I will say that when I replaced my fence, I contacted both neighbors. One neighbor had no problem and agreed to pay half of the shared fence. The other neighbor felt that the fence could last a few more years. As this was a judgement call, I simply ate the shared cost as I wanted the fence replaced and it wasn't worth a fight with a neighbor who was a good neighbor in general.

Yes there will be conflicts and conflicts for different reasons.
This is why the HOA should not become involved expect to say that the fence needs replaced or not and that should be the end of the HOA involvement for replacement fencing.

Some states have laws regarding boundary fences but don't see any for TX. You might check with your County or City to see if they have laws on the books with regards to fences and possibly shared cost of replacing.