lawyers involved?] For my husband, the agreement is between the two202. Whilst mortgaging land might provide some degree of protection as the owner would need to pay the mortgage in order to sell, buying property is a major investment — thousands of JD 203 for the land — as well as fees, sales taxes, and outstanding or accrued taxes. Ultimately, such arrangements therefore rely on trust, ‘[i]t’s all based on the relationship with the person I partner with, that’s it’ 204. One man explained how he registered his shop in the name of a Jordanian cousin: There are no papers or contracts between us. I told him I needed to register the shop under his name. He gave me his documents, and I used them. So you can use a friend, or a relative. Mostly people use their relatives and in-laws. It is risky to rely on friends, because they might fear that they would have to pay taxes on your behalf later on 205. As the quote indicates, the person whose name is officially on the document risks incurring taxes if the ‘de facto owner’ does not settle these. Conversely, the ‘de facto’ owner has few legal claims if the official owner should renege on the agreement and sell. Consequently, registering in the names of Jordanian relatives or in-laws was perceived to be the most secure way to keep properties and businesses within the family, although problems following divorce were cited206. Especially, it seems, when it comes to agricultural land adjacent to the camp, longstanding — oral — agreements have been made with neighbours from nearby villages, without any changes to the property title. Problems thus usually occur upon the death of the person from whom ex-Gaza families had originally purchased land when inheritance is split by his or her children. As two men discussing this issue emphasized: Man 1: Many people paid the price of the land twice. Someone I know bought a piece of land from a family, but it remained under that family’s name, because he is Gazan. The man of the family [who sold the land] died, and his sons told the Gazan that their father has not sold the land. They asked him to pay for the land again. Man 2: That’s Abu Ibrahim. [He] bought a piece of land from a guy and this guy kept it under his name, then died. The inheritors believed Abu Ibrahim when he told them that the father had sold him the land. But the daughter’s husband asked for his wife’s share. They took the case to court. And at the end, he asked Abu Ibrahim to pay 2,000 JD to drop the case207. Consequently, several interviewees suggested that registering property in someone else’s name was simply too risky and would seize any opportunity to register property should ownership regulations be changed again. As a young man working in construction and agriculture explained: [Interviewer: There were opportunities where ex-Gazans were able to register land under their names before] Yes, but they were very short periods, I didn’t make it at the time. [Interviewer: If the registration opened again, would you buy a piece of land?] If that happened, I would sell my house here and buy a piece of land. I am Female, age 35, Hitteen camp, 15 February 2016. One family had paid 8,000 JD for land. 204 Male, age 22, Jerash camp, 17 January 2016. 205 Male, age 37, Jerash camp, 26 January 2016. 206 Female, age 39, Jerash camp, 27 January 2016; female, age 39, Jerash camp, 19 January 2016. 207 Male, age 37, Jerash camp, 26 January 2016. 202 203 ‘Just getting by’ Ex-Gazans in Jerash and other refugee camps in Jordan 115