NALTEA Election News & Candidate Bios
Sunday, October 11, 2009, 10:15 AM, at the
Charlotte Omni Hotel, downtown Charlotte, North Carolina
Among the events planned for our 2009 conference in Charlotte, NC, is an election for three seats on the board of directors. The three seats are currently held by Lynn Hammett, Pat Scott and Vikki Moffitt.
At this point, we have three announced candidates for the board positions: Vikki Moffitt is running to retain her position on the board, Pat Scott is running to retain his position on the board, and Debi Merrill, our current Vice President, is running for a board position. Additional nominations will be accepted until Saturday, October 10th. If you are a voting member of NALTEA, and you have a desire to serve on the board, please send notification of your candidacy to membership@naltea.org by Thursday, October 8th. If you are planning to attend the conference, you will have an opportunity to announce your candidacy during the conference.
If you would like to vote in the election, but will not be attending the conference, you may vote by proxy. Please send an email request to membership@naltea.org if you would like a proxy form.
Please take a moment at this time to meet the current candidates in their own words:
Vikki Moffitt
Every element of my professional and personal background contributes directly to my success as a mortgage and real estate professional at Southern Abstract Services, LLC. I boil it all down to one distinct rule. The most important aspect of my real estate service, no matter which area it may be, is that I live and do business by the Golden Rule. In order to be a dynamic businesswoman, you have to value being affiliated with companies and organizations that also puts clients, members and others first.
With professional training in sales, marketing and negotiating skills, I work to uphold my personal commitment and I take great care to every detail of the real estate abstract process, from our order receiving department, order logistics, to the finished abstract product. With my trademark zest and enthusiasm for life, I attempt to make the process astonishingly easy for our company’s clients, which in turn allows our clients to be more successful in their own areas of expertise.
Educationally and professionally, I have been an active member of NALTEA since 2005 and have attended all conferences since that time. I am one of the first members of NALTEA to take the official certification exam and receive the NCA designation. Currently I sit on the Board of Directors for NALTEA and a former Vice- President of NALTEA. I currently serve as the NALTEA board liaison for the Benefits and Publication committee. Formerly I was on the NALTEA Public Relations Committee. I am a licensed Realtor in two states. I also hold a paralegal degree, with multiple discipline areas. Additionally, after receiving my first degree, an Associates Business Law Degree, I then went on to receive my Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science Pre-Law. Having studied political science and business law in college, I continue attending seminars and college credit classes in multiple legal areas in order to further my education in the field and to stay on top of the ever changing real estate environment. I take at least 21hours of CE classes every four years.
My civic activities in both the national and local community include supporting the local Ronald McDonald House, contributing to the Children’s Miracle Network and I am an active member in the LaGrange Women’s Club as well as an active member of the Georgia Association of Paralegals, Troup County Board of Realtors, National Association of Realtors, National Federation of Paralegals, League of Women Voters, American Land Title Association, Dixie Land Title Association and various Business and Professional Women’s Organizations.
My deep roots in the community and my business acumen bring the greatest advantage to our clients. I strive to embody our company’s vision of delivering the most comprehensive, innovative mortgage and public records service while giving back to the community and industry. In my off time, I am an avid traveler, novelist and budding cyclist. I have been married for almost 23 years and we have two children. We are church members of First Baptist on the Square.
Let me end by saying, that it has been both an honor and privilege to serve the membership of NALTEA these past few years. I feel that there are great things ahead for the NALTEA membership and I would like to continue to serve on the Board of Directors. I envision NALTEA taking the lead in promoting public records awareness and the safety issues that arise from the outsourcing of these same records. Since we have already established some of our educational goals which will certainly continue to evolve over time, our stance and action in regard to public records will be one of our greatest challenges along with increasing membership. I hope you will allow me to continue to serve and promote the NALTEA membership for another term.
Debi Merrill
My name is Debi Merrill. I am currently the Vice President of NALTEA and am interested in running for the Board of Directors at this time. I have been a member of NALTEA for 3 years and serve on the Education Committee. 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 their clients.
I am the President of SearchQuest, Inc. with over 32 years experience in the real estate industry. SearchQuest was created in 1993 to meet the demands of some of the nation’s largest finance companies, mortgage banks, title insurance companies, attorneys, and others. We are a network of 37 independent title searchers covering the entire state of Tennessee.
I have been a member of the TN Land Title Association for many years, working on the education and membership committees. I look forward to being part of an organization committed to improving and building public awareness of the value of our profession to the real estate industry.
Pat Scott
My name is Pat Scott. I have served on the NALTEA board since 2006, and I am willing to serve two more years if the membership so desires.
I chaired the Public Relations Committee for several years. Last January, due to a vacancy, I relinquished the PR chair for the Membership Committee. Several months, and as many mistakes later, I think I am finally getting the hang of it.
The more I see our industry, and its participants suffer, the more strongly I believe in the importance of a strong advocate for the independent abstractors - and the more I believe it is vital that NALTEA succeeds. We have a long way to go yet before we have the respect of the greater title, legal and lending industries. I think we have an excellent opportunity for growth, now that our certification program is in business.
I have been in the title industry for twenty years. Those years are nearly equally split between operations and sales. Since 1997, I have been the sales manager for OConnor Title Services, Inc. I have a lovely wife, Linda, a charming 14-year-old son, Woodrow, and a fine dog we call Roxy.
I look forward to a great increase of involvement in NALTEA this year. And, whether I retain my board position or not, I still look forward to committee participation.