Re: Not always joking, it seems

In article <ddfr-6A9CAF.10085721022008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
ddfr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (David Friedman) wrote:

> 
> You get that pattern in the U.S. too,although I think the legal 
> structure is different. You own the land, but a condition of 
> purchase was member****p in, and some constraint by, the 
> homeowners' association.

We actually had a residents' association, set up because we felt that
the property company was ripping us off.  It all ended up in a messy
court case which the residents' association lost, but also led to the
property owners changing the property company.

Property law concerning leasehold premises was changing in the UK at
that time.  As the law stood, the owners were not required to do any
work at all, only that they could charge for any work done.  As one
newspaper re****t put it, they could erect their family crest in gilt
over the entrance and charge their residents for it, we'd have had to
pay.