Title to land before 1803

Hilarious!

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 letter):
>
> "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
> letter):
> "Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has
> been received. I note
> that you wish to have title 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
> area, 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 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, Isabella. The good queen,
> Isabella, being 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' 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 the hell you find God's original
> claim to be satisfactory.
>
> Now, may we have our damn loan?"

The loan was approved.