Board of Directors Meeting
Minutes for December 20, 2007

Members present:

Catherine L. Blakley
Danita Francis
Mary Ann Nelson
Chaney Haynes
Laura Dishman
Randy Dittmann
Karen Burnette
Marty Askins

Members absent: John Row
Sue Ann Loggains
Charles Holleman

 

Staff present: Jerry Hemry
Trudy Pope

Guests present: Owen Harper
Tracy Row

Welcome: Catherine welcomed the members and guests, and the meeting was called to order at 1:45 pm.

Minutes: The minutes were presented.
  Motion: Approve minutes as presented.
The motion was made and seconded.
Discussion: None
Vote: Passed

Past President's Report: Danita reported that she had been working on obtaining the past treasurers reports to be stored at the OLTA office. She will also work with the Long-Range Planning Committee on the organization and maintenance of these records.

President Elect's Report:
— Mary Ann reported that she has been discussing with the Oklahoma Insurance Department further training, education and testing issues.
— The 2009 convention is tentatively set for April 17th-19th, 2009.
— The Owners/ Managers meeting is to be held on February 18, 2008, and everything is on schedule.
— The Oklahoma Abstractors Board has asked for assistance on education matters and testing.

Vice President's Report: Chaney reported on the status of the new directories.

Treasurer's Report: The Treasurer's report was presented.
  Motion: Approve report as presented.
The motion was made and seconded.
Discussion: None
Vote: Passed
Laura presented three applications for membership:
1. Susan Moreland of Coats Field Services for Associate Membership
  Motion: Approve application
The motion was made and seconded.
Discussion: None
Vote: Passed
2. Clayton Healey of AIC Title Oklahoma City for Associate Membership
  Motion: Approve application
The motion was made and seconded.
Discussion: None
Vote: Passed
3. J. Neal Rogers of Professional Real Estate Services, L.L.C. for Active Membership
  It was suggested that Laura contact them to amend and resubmit their application.

General Counsel's Report: Jerry reported that he contacted Caddo County Abstract as requested by the Board. Caddo County is now current on their membership.

Executive Secretary's Report: The Winter 2007 TitleGram is forthcoming.

Committee Reports:
→ Education

— The Education Committee met on December 11, 2007. A decision was made to hold the Basic Closing School on an annual basis.
— A sub-committee was formed to prepare a proposal on testing to present to the Oklahoma Abstractors Board.
— The Basic Abstractors School has been rescheduled to March 11th and 12th, 2008. It will still be held at OSU/OKC on Portland Ave.
— Education courses for the 2008 Convention are in the planning stages as shown below. The Education Committee is hoping to provide 12 total hours of CE throughout at the convention.
     4 hours of DVD CE on Thursday morning.
     2 hours of Elective credit on Thursday afternoon.
     Pam Short with Bank of Oklahoma will present a 1-hour session on protecting your escrow accounts from fraud on Friday morning.
     ALTA President Gary Kermott will make a presentation Friday afternoon on the Title Industry Consumer Initiative.
     4 hours of CE on Saturday with 2 hours to be presented by Jerome Mayne.
— Summer meeting will include 3 hours of CE. The Summer Meeting will be held on July 31st through August 2nd, 2008 at Tanglewood Resort.
— Catherine indicated that OLTA has been asked by the Oklahoma Insurance Department to submit a person for appointment to their Continuing Education Advisory Committee.
Motion: Motion: Submit Danita Francis for a one-year appointment to the OID Continuing Education Advisory Committee.
Made and seconded.
Discussion: None
Vote: Passed

→ Public Relations — The Public Relations Committee will spearhead the association's activities with regard to the Title Industry Consumer Initiative which was adopted by OLTA earlier this year. They will work with the Education Committee and Legislative Committee as necessary.

→ Membership — Chaney and the Membership committee will work on updating the membership applications.

→ Legislative — Catherine reported on the meeting that was held with the Oklahoma Insurance Department on December 7, 2007. She has notified James Cox, the ALTA State Legislative/Regulatory Representative, of the potential statutory changes the OID is considering. He will work with us on both educating the OID and in gathering information to aid us in the research needed for the task force on which OLTA has been asked to serve. The task force will consist of Mary Ann Nelson and the OLTA members and staff who attended the December 7th meeting.

→ Research — None

→ Uniformity Committee
— Catherine reported that she, Owen Harper and Kraettli Epperson represented the Uniformity Committee at the first meeting of the Oklahoma Abstractors Board on December 4, 2007. Catherine and Ken McBride attended the December 13, 2007. The committee will provide information to the association members following a meeting once meeting minutes are available. The next special meeting of the Board will be at 9:00 am on Thursday, January 17, 2008.
— Catherine asked that anyone who participated in the Proposed Uniform Closing Instruction workshop or who have reviewed the proposed documents provide any input to her by the end of the year. They will be accepting comments through the end of January.

President's Report:
— Catherine has received a request received the Oklahoma Abstractors Board for input on proposed emergency rules to be presented to the Governor in the 2008 session. The Research Committee has been invited to a closed meeting of the Rules and Regulations subcommittee of the OAB. Tracy and Catherine will schedule a Research Committee meeting to prepare our input.
— Catherine requested that the Long Range Planning Committee research the location of approved membership applications so that they can be located and stored properly.
— The next meeting will be held at 1:30 pm on January 17, 2008 at the Oklahoma City History Center at 23rd and Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City.
— There will not be a February board meeting.

Old Business: None

New Business: None

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

John Row, OLTA Secretary