FHA Loan

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA
(Federal Housing Administration) loan
for a client. He was told that 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 FHA,
he received the following reply:
"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 prepared
and presented the application, we must
point out that you have only cleared the
Title to the proposed collateral property
back to the year 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:

"Your letter regarding Titles in Case
No. 189156 has been received. I note
that you wish to have Titles extended
further than the 194 years covered by
the present application. I was unaware
that any educated person in this country,
particularly those working in the property
arena, would not know that Louisiana
was purchased by the U.S. 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 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 then
reigning monarch, Isabella.

"The good queen, being a pious woman and
careful about titles, almost as much as the
FHA, took the precaution of securing the
blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels
to fund Columbus' expedition.

"Now the Pope, as I'm sure you 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 He also made that part
of the world called Louisiana.

"I hope you are satisfied. Now, may
we have our Title?


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