HomeMy Public PortalAbout2015.04.29 Ltr Re Attorney Opinion LetterCity of McCall
www.mccali.id.us
April 29, 2015
Dana Borgquist
675 W. Pickford St
Meridian, ID 83646
Re: City Attorney Opinion Letter Request
Dear Mr. Borgquist
216 East Park Street
McCall, Idaho 83638
Phone 208-634-7142
Fax 208-634-3038
After receiving your email on April 17, 2015 regarding the request for a letter of opinion from the City
Attorney in relation to your loan to refinance your home at 1547 McCall Avenue, the Council met with Bill
Nichols our City Attorney. We learned that the request to certify that "All warranties ... have been met..." is
impossible under the circumstances. For example, the first warranty is "The mortgage must be secured by
the property improvements and the borrower's leasehold interest in the land." But the actual "mortgage"
has not yet been prepared and the sample mortgage (actually a deed of trust) was an unsigned template
document with no legal description. Mr. Nichols addressed the issue by calling out that there are blanks to
be filled in, signatures to be obtained, the document has to be recorded, etc. to meet the warranty and that
if the lender does that then the warranty will be met.
This request is not the first request the City has received to provide an attorney opinion. Even though the
warranties that the lender wants assurances for are the kinds that are typically provided by borrower's
counsel, not the attorney for the Lessor, our attorney had provided what he could. Some of the previous
lenders accepted an answer where Mr. Nichols pointed out the limits to the opinion based on what still had
to be done to meet the warranty. An example is that previous lenders accepted answers which simply
referred to specific sections of the ground lease and the statement that the specific section "speaks for
itself." In this opinion Mr. Nichols had to reproduce the sections in question as part of the answer.
After discussion by the City Council, it was the Council's opinion that Mr. Nichols had went above and
beyond to try to provide your lender with what they had asked within the limits he has as a city attorney.
For your information, if you want to look for a different lender, lenders that have accepted similar opinion
letters in the past are Idaho First Bank and Gate Way Funding. Thank you for your understanding on this
issue.
Sincerely,
Jackie J. m6n Mayor