I have been in the real estate and mortgage industry since 1986. Working with lenders is always a treat (she say sarcastically)for the simple reason - the lenders (employees) could care less if they give your borrower a loan or not... The underwriters typically try to see how many hoops they can have us jump through... When I got this email today - I had to laugh out loud because as stupid as it sounds - this letter is a prime example of the mortgage industry... welcome to my world...
A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client who lost his house in Hurricane Katrina and wanted to rebuild. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to the 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 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 ' 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 darn loan?"
He got the loan.
3 comments:
Hi Kelly
Great post :)
You are a patient person .
That is a wonderful gift to have in your line of work.
have a fantastic weekend.
Hugs
Thats a good one!
I live in DC. I know the stupid loops that people are made to jump through by the Fed govt. I loved that letter written back to the FHA. In defence of the FHA... I have to tell you that the people who work there are more than likely not well educated. The person probably goes about his/her job with a set of rules and guidelines that they follow and do not consider anything that is out of the ordinary. Nor can their small minds even handle something that may seem out of the ordinary.
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