From: davidafoot@yahoo.co.uk   
      
   The HOUSING CORPORATION is a very powerful quango that allows some memebers   
   with not the best reputation to operate in a very dubious way, this was the   
   case of Crystal Palace Housing Association in 1991 which went about   
   miss-representing leases to the public in the media and by any means it saw   
   fit.   
      
   The Housing corporation member I am referring to has many names and has new   
   name now: Crystal Palace Housing Association, South London Family Housing   
   Association, SLFHA Ltd, Horizon Housing Group and now has started calling   
   itself AmicusHorizon Group.   
      
      
   *THIS WAS AN OPERATION OF ABOUT 70 to 80 PROPERTIES: 4 to 5 Million Pounds   
   of 1991 money! And values were falling, there was a crisis.   
      
      
   *The leases were misrepresented at the time of sale targetting people   
   without experience, while the "professionals" who drafted the leases and   
   sales contract appear to have catered for this process of supplying people   
   without experience illegal information behind their legal advisors back,   
   because the lease / sales contract combine to disown anything guranteed   
   during the process of sale, leaving the public exposed to that dishonesty:   
      
   "Calling first time buyers" they said in the Evening Standard 31-07-91   
   and   
   "Absolutely no requirement to buy the remainder" they also assured us   
   and   
   "Does the rent ever go up?" they asked in their own leaflets   
   "Yes it goes up in line with inflation" they answered   
      
   And ten years later the dishonest sellers (CPHA now AmicusHorizon Group)   
   wrote the following words to us: (from their letter 16-03-99)   
      
   "As you are aware..." !! "In October 2000, the 2(b) applies... Obviously   
   this has some " CONSIDERABLE FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS" to all "LEASEHOLDERS   
   WHO DO NOT OWN 100%" !!   
      
   (the implications to which they referred: 40 % rent rise indexed year on   
   year 2 % ABOVE inflation and something more or less the same a few years   
   latter according to this lease described above as with ABSOLUTELY no   
   requirement to buy the remainder!)   
      
   So here is what they were advising us now:   
      
   "and I suggest that you may wish to consider staircasing in the percentage   
   you currently own." !!   
      
   The sales contract dis-owns any mis-representations the dishonest landlord   
   made to us, even publicly and in the press!. Was this premeditated? Did they   
   read the lease and the sales contract? What advice did their solicitors give   
   them? The Housing Corporation says this is not against their regulations!   
      
   All this I have documented.   
      
   So there you have the 4 million pound question, and which curiously is the   
   same one they have the courage to ask me: "and what did "THEIR" solicitor   
   tell "THEM"?"   
      
   And crucially: "Did "THEY" read the lease?" In the falling market with their   
   out-dated prices (as these were falling still further towards the end of   
   1991).. was this premeditated?   
      
   Was all this in deed a deliberate plan as it appears to be? I understand   
   that the then CPHA now AmicusHorizon Group actually was responsible for   
   chosing this type of lease! for this 4 million pound plus operation!   
      
   The Housing Corporation doesn't want to look in to this ! and it also told   
   me that I should have gone with a guy put by CPHA and who was peddling   
   pension endowment mortgages, possibly an ex employee of CPHA.. it was all   
   not very clear if he wanted to give legal or financial advice or both on   
   CPHA premises during their "Sales Seminar". They also say that my landlord   
   ..didn't breach any Corporation procedural guidelines.. wow!.. what a   
   regulator! and what guidelines!   
      
   Should public organisations, landlords, lawyers, etc have freedom to operate   
   as other professions can't (and shouldn't) when they sell something to the   
   public who have less experience and technical knowledge?   
      
   Should public bodies be allowed to compete with the private sector in this   
   unfair way protected even from Parliament by a Quango?   
      
   So much for the integrity of operations with public funds through the   
   Housing Corporation.   
   Misrepresenting leases in the process of sale should be a crime just like   
   any other way of deceiving the public.   
      
   Even worse this is coning the public with public money. That is our taxes   
   being used without integrity through a Quango to deceive the public. This is   
   why the Regulator is not doing what it is supposed to. Is the new regulator   
   the Tenants Service Authority going to consider like the Housing Corporation   
   that mal-administration is one of its valid guidelines for the sector?   
      
   Thank you for your attention and if you would like copies of the   
   documentation supporting these claims or you think that you may be able to   
   recommend a solution please write to me at adrianfoot@hotmail.com quoting   
   CPHA so that I know it is not junk mail.   
      
   Kind regards   
   David A. Foot   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)