Landlord Associations - should I join them?

The stories of the on / off relationship between the National Landlords Association and the National Federation of Residential Landlords, and the Residential Landlords Association sitting in the corner throwing daggered glances at the National Landlords Association made me chuckle.

It also made me raise the question -

Why am I not a member of any landlords associations?

Why am I not a part of one of these official landlord bodies, campaigning for the voice of landlord to be heard up in that London village? Whispering into the ears of the political giants, the powerful and the great of Westminster.

Then I pondered on the comments made by the vice chair of the NFRL, Ruth Kerslake,

“But our final choice of partner requires a quorate meeting of board directors – and this has not yet taken place. Our solicitors have confirmed, therefore, that this premature announcement is invalid."

And it came to me in a sequence of words and labels - words that sum up the nature of an association or any organisation or body that relates or affiliates with a government, words that to be honest fill me with distrust and a feeling of apathy.

These are the kind of words I'm talking about.
political, authority, constitution, regulation, official, agenda, policy.

In many ways it the avoidance of these words that made me become a landlord in the first place.

Seeking other words instead, to replace them, such as.
autonomy, freedom, flexibility, independence, relaxed

So will I go and join whatever enlarged landlords association comes out from their merry tea dance?

In a word - NO!