I was going thru some old papers that had accumulated in the bottom of a filing cabinet, when I came across this. It was in a packet from some escrow and title training continuing education I took about 6 years ago. With more experience under my belt, I got even more of a laugh out of it today.
A Louisiana lawyer sought a loan from a government agency on behalf of a client, offering a tract of land as collateral. The agency said it would grant the loan if the lawyer could show that his client had clear title to the land. A title search was made that went back to 1803, but the agency said that it wanted the title to be cleared for the years prior to 1803.
The lawyer spent a frustrating month attempting to satisfy the agency and finally wrote agency officials this letter:
'I am now able to satisfy your requirement that title to this land be clear for the years prior to 1803. Louisiana was purchased from France in that year. France acquired title to the land from Spain by right of conquest. Spain obtained the land through the right of discovery ensuing from voyages make by Christopher Columbus. Columbus' expeditions were sanctioned and financed by the then reigning monarch, Esabella of Spain. Queen Isabella, a pious and cautious woman, took care to protect her rights by asking and receiving the blessin of the Pope upon Columbus' voyages before she pawned her jewels to finance Columbus. The Pope is the vicar on earth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and it is commonly agreed that God made the world, including that part of the United States known as Louisiana. Only God could give you title clearance prior to Creation."
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