In April, Yveline Achille's father died. The grieving Miramar woman rushed to Haiti for his funeral. But she forgot to first pay the $90.49 monthly maintenance fee on her four-bedroom home in the Huntington development. Instead, she paid it late.

Big mistake -- one that could eventually cost her her home.

Achille is one of several homeowners in the west Miramar subdivision who claim their association and its attorney are using bullying tactics to collect fees that may or may not be overdue.

The Huntington Maintenance Association and its law firm, Katzman & Korr, say they are simply trying to make sure the neighborhood has the money it needs to keep cable TV operating, irrigation sprinklers spraying and common areas landscaped.

Disputes between homeowners and their associations are not uncommon in South Florida. What is striking about Huntington is the level of anger and apprehension.

At two Saturday meetings this month, more than 40 people discussed a plan of action.

The dispute centers on what homeowners say are onerous assessments -- including substantial ''attorney collection fees'' over and above the $10 fee for paying 15 days late -- zealously imposed by the association and its representatives. They also claim the association's bookkeeping is sloppy, leading to unwarranted late fees that compound monthly, and that the association will deliberately hold a check to justify still more fees.

The homeowners association and its representatives deny that, but make no apologies for getting tough with nonpayers.

''We are not going to sit and wait and have people run up bills in the thousands of dollars,'' said elected association treasurer Ron Shayne. ``If you allow it to become a sore, it festers, it becomes a boil and it explodes.''

Maria Castro said she pays her bills months in advance. She asserts that in January she wrote a check for $268.30 that was to cover the first three months of the year, including a $10 late fee for January.

It cleared the bank on Jan. 31, her records indicate. She says that on that same date, Jan. 31, she wrote another check to cover her April payment. The check wasn't processed, she said. On May 10, Castro sent a check for May, June and July's payment. But on May 21, she received a notice saying her account was not up to date.

Castro got a letter from Katzman & Korr saying she needed to send in $280.16 within 30 days. That translated to $182.20 (two months of dues) plus $97.96 in attorney costs.

''I was shocked,'' Castro said.

She said she tried speaking to someone at Katzman & Korr but was told no one would speak to her. Castro was told to send a request in writing.

The next day she went to Katzman & Korr in Lauderhill in person to discuss her account.

She says she was told to fill out a ''verification request form'' and they would look into her request and respond in writing. After some prodding, she was allowed to peek at her file. In it, she said, was her check for May, June and July. She asked why it had not been processed. Because her account had been ''red-flagged,'' she was informed, and they could not deposit checks on ''red-flagged'' accounts.

Result: more late fees.

Castro said she called the homeowner association's management company that day and explained her predicament. The woman said she would call back but didn't. Later, Castro received in the mail an account history and conversation log without further explanation. She said it confirmed that the April payment, made in January, had not been credited.

The dispute dragged on. Some highlights:

• Early June: A letter from Katzman & Korr acknowledges receipt of the May-June-July check but said, ``This did not represent full payment as stated in previous correspondence.''

• July 9: Castro said she receives Katzman & Korr letter indicating she is delinquent for March -- she said that check cleared in January -- and April (she says she mailed in late January) and May (she says she mailed in May, along with June and July payments).

July 28: Letter from Katzman & Korr says it has filed a lien on her property, necessitating more attorney fees. Castro says the firm threatens to foreclose if payment in full is not received in 30 days. Attorney fees and costs now total $731.16.

• Sept. 12: Castro sues.

''By filing suit, it's like I'm suing myself,'' Castro said. ``If all these lawsuits win, we're going to have to increase the maintenance payments.''

In Achille's case, in the beginning of May, she sent off a check for $190.49, two months' worth of payments, plus a $10 late fee.

''I thought that's all I needed to pay to become current on my bill,'' Achille said.

Not so, according to the collection agency attorney her account was sent to. She now faces charges of more than $815.78, and foreclosure is being threatened.

''This is frustrating,'' Achille said. ``You work hard for your money and you try to do the right thing, and everything can be taken away from you.''

Leigh Katzman of Katzman & Korr said the legal fees charged Huntington homeowners are proper and reasonable. If the attorney has to file a claim of lien, that translates to about $475 in fees and costs. If the attorney has to start the foreclosure process, the homeowner usually owes $900 to $1,100, Katzman said.

''All we are asking them to do,'' Katzman said, ``is pay for things in a timely fashion.''

Katzman said that about 10 percent, or just over 70 of the 733 homes, are in collections for their homeowner association fees and that the association is owed $73,675.75 in maintenance fees.

The homeowners have started holding Saturday meetings at which they passed out fliers calling for the removal of Katzman & Korr and for a review of the association's ledgers.

The fliers also called for firing Goldman, Juda and Martin, the Plantation accounting firm that collects the payments, alleging they haven't recorded payments promptly.

If the board does not comply, the flier called for the entire association board to step down.

''We're an elected position, you have to have an election,'' Shayne said.

Reynald Jean, after being late on April's payment, attended one of the Saturday meetings. He says the attorneys want him to pay at least $1,000.

The meeting with his neighbors made him feel better. He hired an attorney to help him navigate the paperwork.

''I feel more comfortable now. I thought I was the only one going through this,'' said Jean, who is facing foreclosure. ``I couldn't even sleep.''

Ellen Hirsch de Haan, a community association attorney and member of the Community Associations Institute, which advises homeowner associations, says homeowners associations and Realtors can do a better job of letting people know about the responsibility they have when they move into certain communities.

But, as a practical matter, she advises the homeowners to just pay the fees.

''You can lose your house for $50,'' de Haan said. ``It has nothing to do with being mean -- the association is a business.''