MIAMI (AP) – The number of condo owners who aren’t paying maintenance fees is on the rise, causing headaches for the other owners and, in some cases, animosity between neighbors.

Condo associations around South Florida are using a variety of tactics to retaliate against the deadbeats, including closing pools, towing cars and posting lists on bulletin boards of those who don’t pay fees. State officials say that the situation has gotten downright dangerous in some cases.

“The frustration people have, it leads to terrible animosity,” said Bill Raphan, the state’s assistant condo ombudsman.

Owners who are having financial difficulties often stop paying their condo fees – but that money is essential for utilities and services used by everyone in the building. Whether it’s one owner – or 50 – that doesn’t pay the monthly fees, it’s up to the rest of the condo to cover the shortfall.

But some owners are strapped themselves and can’t pay more. As a result, water and lights have been shut off in some condos. Trash has piled up and landscaping is nonexistent.

At the 310-unit Mirassou Condos in Miami-Dade County, county officials shut off water to the entire building because the condo’s association bounced a check and failed to pay a $109,000 past due bill.

Roughly a third of the units are bank-owned or in foreclosure. After the county turned off the water, residents allegedly tampered with the meter to keep it running illegally. The county and the association eventually agreed on a payment plan, and the water was turned on again.

Or take the Island Shores condo in North Miami Beach. Eduard Sotolongo is a condo board member who said he started calling the towing service to haul away the cars of people who haven’t paid fees when their cars were parked in guest spots or other unauthorized spaces.

Sotolongo said one resident threatened his life when his car was towed.

“You feel like buying a shotgun because it feels like the Wild West,” Sotolongo said.

In Hialeah, 44 of the 96 units at the Lancaster condo are in foreclosure. Association president Rolando Tato decided to close the pool.

At first, he said, it was to save money. Then he disclosed the real reason: “I don’t want the people who don’t pay the bills to have that enjoyment.”

Rudy Martin is a condo owner who hasn’t paid his fees. More than a year ago, he quit paying the maintenance charges on his Deerfield Beach condo more than a year ago. Martin now avoids his neighbors or endures “chilly stares.”

Often, he felt compelled to explain his situation when he ran into neighbors: “I felt like I had to talk to them and justify it, so they didn’t think I was scumbagging them.”