Friday, July 20, 2007

Origin of Title

A story on titles that everyone who has ever bought a house will enjoy.

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:

"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 only cleared title to the proposed collateral 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:

"Your letter regarding title in the Case No.189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 204 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particulary those working in the property area, would not know that Louisianna was purchased by the US from France in 1803, the year or origin identified in our application.

For the edification of uniformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to the US ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by the Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the priviledge 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 Louisianna. 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?"

He got the loan

Visit to the Lowell ROD

Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the Lowell Registry of Deeds and meet with Register Dick Howe. We discussed the Worcester Deeds website and the possible relocation of this blog to Word Press, creating electronic versions of the Grantor/Grantee indexes, and electronic recording. Each of these topics are important in realizing the goal of both the Worcester and Lowell to create totally paperless registries. Currently the Lowell (Middlesex North) Registry is accepting documents for recording electronically, something we are looking to do in Worcester in the near future.

I highly recommend checking out the Lowell Deeds Blog. (Click Here) It offers more information about the scan and return process, electronic recording, and the paperless registry.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Property Owner Beware...

It has come to the Registry of Deed’s attention that companies such as National Deed Service, Inc. are mailing letters to residents of Worcester County offering to obtain certified copies of their deed for a cost of $59.50.

The only way for an individual to obtain a certified copy of a document recorded at the Registry of Deeds is to come to the Registry in person. The fee for this is $1 per page. However, you can obtain a standard copy of any of our records at no charge from our website, www.worcesterdeeds.com. If you have any questions about your deed or how to obtain it, please contact our office at (508) 798-7717.