On The Subject Of Bureaucracy

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 on behalf of a
client:

You have to love this lawyer.......

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 loan?"

The loan was immediately approved.