The shake shingles lining the hips of the low-pitched roofs at Alvarado Village are lifting or askew, if they aren't already covered in black plastic. Leaking water has painted white lines down the dark-brown siding on several townhouses. The weight of accumulated sludge has bent gutters flat. It wasn't a shock then, when the Union City community's homeowners association informed its members last year that it was planning repairs. Pierre Morrison, a police officer who bought a unit in October 2003, even recognized that the organization might request money above his monthly membership dues to pay for it. But Morrison...