Meet The Candidates!

On Monday, January 19th, NALTEA will hold its annual meeting and elections. At this time, we have three candidates in the running for two open seats on NALTEA's board of directors. Each has provided some biographical information and a paragraph or two to let our members know what he or she will work to accomplish for NALTEA, if elected.

This is an opportunity for NALTEA members to get to know our candidates, to ask questions, to find out which candidates best represent what you think is best for your association and your industry. Let's meet the candidates (in the order in which their nominations were received):

NALTEA In Focus ::

Ed Gunther, Vice President of InfoTrack Information Services, Inc.

NALTEA Members:

My name is Ed Gunther and I am the Vice President of INFOTRACK INFORMATION SERVICES, INC.

I am interested in filling a vacancy on the NALTEA Board of Directors. I am currently the Vice President of NALTEA and have participated at the NALTEA conferences for the last three years. I am very interested in promoting education in the abstracting field. INFOTRACK is currently enrolled in the sponsor program of the Land Title Institute and have our abstractors enrolled in courses ongoing. We recognize the need for effective training throughout the industry.

I also feel that our industry faces many challenges from off shore companies that are attempting to turn our profession into a commodity. Furthering the image of NALTEA and the quality work of Abstracting Professionals is a key element in keeping the title industry work here in this country.

Increasing the visibility and the influence of our organization is of great importance as we go forward into 2009.

Ed Gunther

Dave Pelligrinelli, President of AFX Corp. LLC.

I started title searching in 1995, in Alpharetta , GA. At the time, I covered Fulton and DeKalb counties. This is also when we opened the website TitleSearch.com. In 1999, we opened a second office, in Boca Raton , FL and incorporated as AFX Corp., LLC.

Over the years, AFX has done over 200,000 searches for lenders, attorneys, government agencies, and investors. More recently, we have been involved with major projects for the SEC, US Treasury Department, and FBI. We routinely handle commercial searches, mineral rights, and environmental liens. (More detailed information about the company can be found at http://www.afxc.com.)

In 2005, we began using our site http://www.Abstractors.com as a vendor database, to coordinate outside abstractors used for searches outside our native area. Last year, I noticed a large volume of visitors coming to this site looking for local abstractors, so I decided to open this directory up to all abstractors, as a free resource for promoting individual abstractors. Hundreds of vendor managers each day are exposed to the directory, and the listings contained in it.

In the early 2000's, the focus of the TitleSearch.com site was directed more towards investors. To promote the title search industry to consumers, we also publish a blog at http://www.TitleSearchBlog.com. We use popular real estate subjects to connect to issues related to property records and searching. This captures the publics' interest in real estate to promote the issue of records searching.

I joined NALTEA within the first year it was formed, and have been an active member since 2005. Having seen the evolution of the title search industry over the past decade, it is easy to understand the current challenging environment for individual abstractors. There are several issues putting pressure on the individual abstractor. Declining transaction volume, online records, overseas outsourcing, and a lower standard of search accuracy each are issues which make the job of maintaining and growing an abstracting enterprise more difficult now than it was in the past.

I believe that the success of the individual abstractor lies in recognizing that these issues are not going away, and they need to be addressed head-on as factors to be dealt with. Educating clients to the inferior nature of foreign outsourcing is a valid strategy. However, it is unlikely that the existence of online records will disappear. This is a genie that has been let out of the bottle, and cannot be put back. However, there are good methods for abstractors to continue to thrive in light of this, without sacrificing search integrity or client relationships. These are the types of opportunities which I would like to help abstractors take advantage of. We have implemented several customer management systems that make a huge impact on cultivating and sustaining excellent client relationships. These are simple, low cost things that are easy to do, but that help promote your searching/abstracting as something more than a commodity service that should be shopped around to the lowest bidder.

I am available to help NALTEA increase membership, and more importantly help its members (and all individual abstractors) not only survive this challenging environment, but also increase their success. Of course, no discussion of ensuring abstractor survival would be complete without promoting methods to enforce timely payments from clients. At the same time, it requires abstractors to present themselves to clients in a way that large professional clients recognize as deserving to be taken seriously.

Keeping individual abstractors as the backbone of searching is important in order to prevent the "title search" from becoming a completely automated process. While online records, short searches, and reduced standards are already a reality, we can keep "automated searches" from happening by keeping the current population of individual abstractors profitable and viable.

This is important because once more abstractors are gone for good, institutions will likely need to pursue automation out of necessity. This is one remaining event that we can still prevent as an industry, by promoting the strength of individual abstractors to keep enough of us around. Individual abstractors have contributed to working towards this goal by maintaining high search standards. As an industry trade group, NALTEA can capitalize on this effort and help keep the search industry profitable.

If asked to do so, I would be glad to help take the lead in making this happen.

Debi R. Merrill, President of SearchQuest, Inc.

NALTEA:

I am writing hoping for the opportunity of working with the Association as a Board Member. I have been involved in the Real Estate industry for over 32 years. I am interested in assisting Title Search professionals in gaining knowledge and in improving their relationships with others in the industry, thus increasing and improving service to our clients.

I have been a member of the TN Land Title Association for years, working on the education and membership committees. I have most recently attended seminars as a vendor, to meet and learn what Title Companies, Attorneys, and others using Real Estate search services are actually experiencing. To learn what they like and dislike about their current searchers and searches. With the times that we are in, it is most important to see what our customers actually need, and then strive to do our best to give them what they truly want. We can not get so set in our ways that we no longer listen. We are researchers, and need to continue to research our profession, as well as each individual title search.

I have been a member of NALTEA for 2 years and would like to be a part of an organization committed to improving and building public awareness of the value of our profession to the real estate industry. I will support our profession in promoting education and growth of NALTEA and to help set goals that are achievable over the coming years to make NALTEA the best ever!

Debi R. Merrill

President

Experience

11/93 - Present             SearchQuest               Estill Springs, TN

President

Maintain and control a title search company

Effectively promote the business

Manage numerous employees and independent contractors

1/93 thry 10/93      Title Insurance Company of Tullahoma     Tullahoma, TN

Title Searcher

60 year searches on land and owners in numerous counties

Review and advise on clearing title objections

Document Preparation and loan closings

7/89 thru 1/93     AEDC Federal Credit Union      Tullahoma, TN

Legal Assistant

Searched RE Titles and assisted loan officers with title problems

Prepared garnishments and levies, processed foreclosures, typed bankruptcy claims

Senior Loan Officer

4/78 thru 1/89               Various Companies              TN, CA, IA

Title Searcher

Miller and Martin Law Firm; Chattanooga, TN

Los Padres Savings; Solvang, CA

Brenton Bank and Trust; Des Moines, IA

The floor is still open to nominations. If you are interested in serving on the board, or if you would like to nominate another member, please send a note to info@naltea.org .

The current NALTEA officers and board would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our candidates for their readiness to work for their association and their industry. We wish them all luck on Monday evening.

We have asked the board candidates to check in with this blog on occasion during the week leading up to Monday's election to answer any questions that our members may have. So, please feel free to ask away.

Rating:

2239 words | 2934 views | 6 comments | log in or register to post a comment

	Good luck to all of the candidates...
	It is good to see we have some very experienced people running for office. As one of the first members of the board of directors, I can tell you that serving on the board is a challenging but rewarding experience. Out industry definitely has some tough times ahead and it will be up to the next board to carry on and represent the abstractors. There is still work to be done on the Abstractor Certification Program, and it would be great to see NALTEA get our message out to the rest of the industry and the regulators who are always looking at changing the title industry. I wish them all the best.
	by Robert Franco \| 2009/01/14 \| log in or register to post a reply

	Dave Pelligrinelli
	Thanks for the opportunity Robert. The next year or so will be an influential time for the future of the abstracting industry. The client base of lenders, attorneys, and vendor managers is currently looking at our industry to see if we are just another vendor to be shopped around like a commodity, or truly a professional service partner. As an industry trade group, NALTEA should lead the way in making sure that comes out in favor of abstractors being viewed as valuable professional service providers by the title industry and regulators As industry clients are facing changes in their own industries, it is an excellent time to show them how abstractors are more than just a fax number to send a search order to. Taking time to asking about ways which would be easier for them to do business with us, even if there are none, will go a long way to cultivating and maintaining good clients. Uniform certification is clearly a good way to maintain a professional status of the abstracting industry. The solution to getting this done is looking at the reasons why it has not been widely adopted so far, and coming up with a system for certification that makes it highly desirable for abstractors to get on board with. I can see a design and promotion of an education and certification program with features that all abstractors would love to be part of. Once a ‘critical mass’ of participants is out there, many clients and uninvolved abstractors will be talking about it, and that is what will drive the growth of the program. Professional abstractors can also demonstrate their value to the client by using some simple off-the-shelf technology to make their operations more efficient. This will also result in less wasted time and effort, and therefore more profit. I am sure the other candidates and I are looking forward to hearing your questions and comments, so log in and type away! - Dave Pelligrinelli
	by Dave Pelligrinelli \| 2009/01/14 \| log in or register to post a reply

	Excellent slate of candidates
	As one of the original members of NALTEA, I am quite pleased to see such a qualified slate of candidates. The growth of the organization is dependent on a good, forward thinking board and the active participation of the membership at large. Participation is so important, thus I hope to see a lot of members join in on Monday. For those members not inclined to run for a board position, keep in mind that serving on one of the various committees can be equally rewarding, both personally and professionally. I am interested in hearing what each of the candidates see as the foremost concern moving forward. Is it public awareness, certification, ongoing education, organizational growth, legislative actions, general membership benefits, etc? I realize all are important, and intertwined, but curious if any of the three see one as the primary concern in the near term.
	by Douglas Gallant \| 2009/01/17 \| log in or register to post a reply

	Priority Issue
	Thanks for the question Douglas. Easily, the most important project to make a priority is increasing membership. Improving all of the other concerns starts with having more members to work with. There are presumably 3000 - 5000 abstractors nationwide. The current NALTEA membership directory shows about 100 active members, which is maybe 1% - 3% of the total available constituency. That is an excellent start for a relatively new trade group. However, getting 5%, 10%, or even 20% of the abstractors interested in joining would make a big difference. Now you have 500 - 1000 advocates for NALTEA out in the marketplace. Each of the example concerns that you put out there in your message are improved by the increase in membership. Public awareness: More abstractors out there talking about NALTEA naturally raises public awareness. Certification/education: More NALTEA members = more people interested in certification, and gives the certification designation more value in the marketplace Organizational growth: Consider this, a typical vendor manager who talks to 10 - 15 abstractors on a particular day. Currently, possibly only one of them might be a NALTEA member. To the vendor manager that means "So what?" Now, what if 9 of those 10 - 15 abstractors are NALTEA members? Now the vendor manager says to the other 5 non-members, "Why aren't you?" Legislative actions: Same logic; at a higher membership market share, the opinions of NALTEA as a trade group have more value to lawmakers. The answer to growing membership levels is talking to abstractors, and finding out why they are not currently members. It may be that some are not yet aware of the organization. That would indicate more marketing is in order. Others might not see the value to them of joining. Creating an image for NALTEA that makes it very desirable for all abstractors to want to join comes next. There are dozens of ways to do this, without adding any cost to NALTEA for providing a membership. The current "selling points" such as E&O referral are OK, but think about what abstractors are looking for now. They are looking for ways to help their business today, to get more orders, and perform better. Benefits with immediate results, and regular activity are more powerful. Members-only podcasts, new business sources, and marketing assistance come to mind. Most abstractors who would become members will already have sufficient knowledge of how to do a typical title search. Basic search training and education is an important core, but most of the new education and information provided by NALTEA should be about subjects where abstractors can learn the most new things, and subjects that can help their business immediately. Introduction to advanced searching, such as commercial properties, mineral rights, etc. could be a way for abstractors to start learning new skills, which can help them get new business in the future. Even if they do not perfom these types of searches immediately, having a glimpse of this advanced knowledge will sharpen their skills for more common searches. More importantly, abstractors would benefit most from business development knowledge. NALTEA can advise abstractors on how to find new clients and business without simply poaching from another abstractor on price. Developing new markets and providing extraordinary customer service to retain existing clients is something that all abstractors can do easily. Promotion and marketing that cultivates new lines of business is a way for each abstractor to get more volume, without taking anything away from their peers. This is where the biggest opportunity exists for abstractors to improve their individual business immediately, and the industry overall. If NALTEA comes to be known as the place to come to get this knowledge, then everyone will want to be here. - Dave Pelligrinelli
	by Dave Pelligrinelli \| 2009/01/17 \| log in or register to post a reply

	Foremost Concern
	As a fairly new member to NALTEA, I am interested in seeing the certification and educational area continue to grow and expand. For years I have been talking about certification of abstractors in Tennessee. Te see it actually happening, nationwide, is of great interest to me and I want to be involved! I believe in order to get it all to come together we will need to encourage questions, suggestions, and of course involvment, from all those who happen to come across NALTEA. Thus we need to spread the word, anywhere and everywhere we can, that such an organization exists, what the function is, and that we encourage membership from ALL, big or small, north or south, east or west. If we can accomplish this we will have gained membership, improved public awareness and achieved some of what NALTEA forefathers saw and hoped for a few years back. Sincerely, Debi Merrill
	by Debi Merrill \| 2009/01/17 \| log in or register to post a reply

	Foremost Concern
	I apologize for being slow to respond. NALTEA as an organization is facing tough challenges going forward. Stregnth comes from membership and I see this as a core focus of the organization. We have had dedicated quality individuals form an excellent base to increase awareness and with that awareness we can grow our numbers. Education and certification enhance the value of our membership.The certifiaction test program will soon be readily available to our membership. In the face of tough economic conditions, I feel we still have excellent opportunities to advance NALTEA and become a strong voice in our profession. Ed Gunther
	by Frank NAVARRO \| 2009/01/19 \| log in or register to post a reply

NALTEA In Focus

Welcome to the NALTEA blog. With our members scattered across this vast country, we are not able to meet personally as often as many of us would like. We hope that this blog will help to encourage new ideas and enhance communication among our members.

From time to time, NALTEA will post about issues and events that matter to our members and our industry. We welcome comments from members and others concerned with the future of our industry.

Officers and Board of Directors

The National Association of Land Title Examiners and Abstractors

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