Water Supply Lines vs. Shut-offs on Homes

My initial blush is the HOA is responsible for delivering water to the unit then it becomes the unit's issue, including the unit's shutoff valve.

Thanks Tim and John. I appreciate the quick response.

Both of your posts make a lot of sense, hence why I'm trying to weigh both sides.

For this specific situation, there is one shut off valve on this line that is directly outside of our community well room. This sits on common ground. The shut off valve in question is directly on the outside of their home, within their property line.

Tim, in regards to your question, much of the water supply pipes and shut off valves are very old, and in my honest opinion, the old resort maintenance staff did a poor job during any winterizing processes. My thought is a deep freeze may have disrupted it in some way.

Thanks again for the thoughts!

This is almost a toss up but because the covenants say the HOA covers the "water supply lines" I would argue that they are responsible to the point that it enters the home since it is part of the supply line. If it were not in the covenants, then I would argue that the individual owners are responsible for anything on their properties.

Using the argument made where water meters exist, I believe the reason the city or water company maintain up to the water meter has more to do with the fact that they own the meter than where the property line is. In the last two homes I lived in the water meter was well into the property line but the town or water company still maintained up to the meter.

Great feedback. Thank you all. Gives me a great basis to discuss with the other board members.

To answer the question on who pays the bill...this is done so by the HOA based on monthly fees.

Thanks again all

In our community, the HOA covers the pipe up to the point it enters the unit and then it becomes homeowner responsibility.

For your question, I might also ask what caused the valve to fail - was it old age or something the homeowner did or tried to do (or someone whom the homeowner hired to look at the valve) If the damage was due to misuse or abuse, I might make the homeowner at least partially responsible for the repair.

It's one thing to say the HOA should be responsible and perhaps it should, but keep in mind this can become VERY expensive very quickly. This was a family resort, so who knows how well the lines were maintained before the HOA came into being? Now that it's a HOA, busted lines might become more of a possibility, and if the HOA doesn't have the money to pay for major repairs, you and your neighbors may be looking at a hefty special assessment.

You might want to take Tim's suggestion on dealing with the lines and while you're at it, I hope the HOA commissions a reserve study where you can look at the useful life of this system to begin estimating the cost of future repairs and replacement. The study will help the board set the budget accordingly (yes, you should anticipate assessment increases, but better to plan and pay a little now than for everything to fail and you wind up with a special assessment AND a huge fee increase).