New Orleans Lawyer
This is pretty funny... But this is
government at its best and we pay them.
Rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina often caused
residents to be challenged to prove home titles back
hundreds of years. That is because of community
history stretching back over two centuries
during which houses were passed along through
generations of family, sometimes making it quite
difficult to establish a paper trail of ownership.
A New Orleans lawyer sought a FHA
rebuilding loan for a client. He was told the loan would
be granted upon submission of satisfactory proof of
ownership of the parcel of property as it was
being offered as collateral. It took the lawyer 3 months,
but he was able to prove title to the property
dating back to1803. 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."
And here is the great letter the lawyer
responded with:
(Actual response):
"Your letter regarding title in Case No.189156
has been received. I note that you wish to have
proof of title extended further than the 206 years
already covered in the present application. I was unaware
that any educated person in this country, particularly those
working with real property, would not know that
Louisiana was purchased by the United States from
France in 1803, the year of origin of title
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 reconstruction
loan?"
The loan was immediately
approved.
This is pretty funny... But this is
government at its best and we pay them.
Rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina often caused
residents to be challenged to prove home titles back
hundreds of years. That is because of community
history stretching back over two centuries
during which houses were passed along through
generations of family, sometimes making it quite
difficult to establish a paper trail of ownership.
A New Orleans lawyer sought a FHA
rebuilding loan for a client. He was told the loan would
be granted upon submission of satisfactory proof of
ownership of the parcel of property as it was
being offered as collateral. It took the lawyer 3 months,
but he was able to prove title to the property
dating back to1803. 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."
And here is the great letter the lawyer
responded with:
(Actual response):
"Your letter regarding title in Case No.189156
has been received. I note that you wish to have
proof of title extended further than the 206 years
already covered in the present application. I was unaware
that any educated person in this country, particularly those
working with real property, would not know that
Louisiana was purchased by the United States from
France in 1803, the year of origin of title
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 reconstruction
loan?"
The loan was immediately
approved.