Who pays to prune trees growing from adjacent property?

My HOA is a collection of townhomes in North Carolina. The HOA is responsible for replacing and siding and roofs when they age out, and it provides basic landscaping services to individually-owned lawns. A neighboring property, outside of the HOA, has mature trees that are growing across their property line and rubbing against our buildings. We have permission from the neighbor to prune these trees.

The question here is should the individual townhome owners affected by these overgrown trees pay for the trimming or should the HOA pay for it? We have 22 units. Should the shared HOA funds pay to prune, when only 2 units are affected?

In case it's relevant, from the standpoint of what else our HOA does, it pays for basic termite protection and outside extermination for everyone. It pays to clean all gutters once a year, with any additional cleanings left up to the homeowner. It pays for liability insurance for all exteriors and common areas.

We are a young HOA and do not have anything in Rules or CCRs covering this situation. We're establishing policies now. What is common practice, or is there one? Thanks in advance!

In general, the landowner who the trees are bothering pays the cost to prune back to the property line. The landowner who owns the trees may choose to prune them to be a good neighbor but is not required to do so.

Tim, one thing to note is that in this community the HOA is responsible for eventual replacement of ALL the siding due to age but the homeowner is responsible for regular maintenance.

The distinction of limbs crossing HOA property to reach the house is an interesting one.

In one case the limbs cross HOA property, then encroach on homeowner property before reaching the house.

In the second case, the limbs go straight from neighbor property, over homeowner property and then reach the house.