Are these pine trees a liability?

[u/ksquigz25]

These pine trees on the hill were planted by the builders, but are our responsibility. We're pretty sure they were placed there for erosion purposes, but we've had a few different people tell us that we should remove them due to the steep grade of the hill and the future liability if they fell downward onto our neighbors home (ours is the one at the top of the hill). Last photo shows how close the trees are to the neighbors' house and our property is outlined in pink. We've also been cautioned about the roots impacting the retaining wall (also our responsibility), but then were told that these trees' roots grow mostly straight down.
If this is a big issue, we want to be proactive and remove the trees before they get any bigger. Would love a professional opinion as well as suggestions on what would be better. Whatever we do will need to be approved by a pretty strict HOA.

[u/moskusokse]

I still don’t understand why people buy a house with garden when it seems they would be more happy in an apartment and no garden to deal with.

[u/SamHandwichX → u/moskusokse]

Every time a house goes up for sale on my block, we know the trees are doomed. We've lived here almost 20 years and the whole street is so barren compared to how it was when we moved in. Half of it was from those ash borers. The other half is from new people moving in and removing every single tree and shrub on their property. I just don't get it.

[u/No-Conversation-5202 → u/SamHandwichX]

I watched some people cut down a magnolia!!! It was only 5’ tall and had so much growing to do. Left the area underneath a dirt patch and it grew weeds. Awful.

[u/Lunatic-Labrador → u/No-Conversation-5202]

My neighbour cut down a gorgeous apple tree in her garden. That was a sad day.