Residents of Marina Terrace know where their neighbours live. They know what units they occupy, they know who has pets, they know who goes to work at what time. And now they know exactly which ones owe thousands of dirham's’ worth of maintenance fees.

Yesterday, 107 residents of the Dubai Marina building were named on public notice boards, along with the amount of service charges left unpaid.

The move, which association members called unprecedented, came as Dh1.8million (US$490,000) in dues sat uncollected. Officials also threatened to seize the apartments in question for resale if their occupants failed to cough up.

Owners have two weeks to pay, the notices said. After that, anyone living in the property could be penalised.

The association said the delinquent owners, more than half of the 188 who bought flats in the building, have forced management to cut back severely on maintenance, which even switched off the building’s facade lights to save electricity.

The group has banned those who owe money from using their parking bays and the tennis courts, and said they could even be stopped from using other facilities like the gym and swimming pool.

Debtors’ price: dishonour - The National Newspaper