Only in America…..
Part of rebuilding New Orleans caused
residents often to be challenged with the task of
tracing home titles back potentially hundreds of years. With a community
rich with history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been
passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite
difficult to establish ownership.
Here's a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA
(Federal Housing Administration) on behalf of a client:
A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He
was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title
to a parcel of property being offered as collateral.
The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took
the lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to
the FHA, he received the following reply.
(Actual reply from FHA):
"Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan
application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of
Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared
and presented the application, we must point out that you have only
cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before
final approval can be accorded it will be necessary to clear the title
back to its origin."
Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows:
(Actual response):
"Your letter regarding title in Case No.189156 has been
received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the
206 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any
educated person in this country, particularly those working in the
property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased by the United
States from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our
application.
For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the
title to the land prior to U.S. Ownership was obtained from France,
which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came
into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492
by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the
privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Queen
Isabella.
The good Queen Isabella, being a pious woman and almost
as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the
blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus’s
expedition. Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created
this world.
Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also
made that part of the world called Louisiana. God, therefore, would be
the owner of origin and His origins date back to before the beginning of
time, the world as we know it, and the FHA. I hope you find God's
original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our damn loan?"
