Be sure to read the attached State of the Association Report


May 21, 2003


Dear TLTA Member,

I would like to take this opportunity to report to you on the progress we've made over the past year, and to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve TLTA. I am very proud of our accomplishments, as well as the notable progress we have made on several important issues. We have worked well together, and have taken the time to consider different sides of each issue. By listening to each other, sharing information, and learning from each other, we developed a new strategy for problem solving and consensus building.

When I began my year as president, I presented a list of priorities that I felt were important for us to address as an association. I want to present them to you again, as we review the progress we have made over the past year.

• Financial: We needed to run TLTA like a business, and we have done so. We have reduced expenses while continuing to provide an equal or higher level of service to members. We continued to offer early bird dues discounts and we have retained our excellent staff. All educational seminars and programs were huge successes both financially and in total number of participants.
  

• Regulatory/Legislative - We made sure that we represented the interests of our industry by continued participation in TDI hearings, working on the P-24 issue and the issue of rebates and discounts. In the legislative arena, we worked with our elected representatives to represent title industry interests. On the federal level we proactively opposed the HUD RESPA Reform Proposal and hired a Washington D.C. firm to represent TLTA in this effort.
  

• Communication - We promoted the benefits of TLTA membership through better communication with our members and developed new tools to keep members informed electronically. We introduced a monthly President's Message to keep you regularly informed on TLTA programs and specific industry issues. Downdate, a new electronic member newsletter was launched, and Dateline Austin was revamped to focus solely on Regulatory and Legislative issues.
  

• Cohesiveness - We encouraged all segments of the title insurance industry to work together on difficult issues toward a common goal of supporting and protecting the industry.

Many of these priorities were identified during the first TLTA Town Hall Meeting that was held during last year's Annual Conference, as well as other forums that took place during the year. My primary purpose has been to let you know TLTA is working to represent your interests, and that we have listened to your needs and concerns.

We have made tremendous progress in the areas I have mentioned above, and the following report will provide more detail on the State of our Association. Please click here to download a copy of the State of the Association Report.

I want to congratulate each of you on your steadfast commitment to TLTA, and thank you again for your support and involvement during my year as President.

With fond regards,

Jack Rattikin III
TLTA President