Board of Directors

Nancy S. Baumann
President
Sun Title Insurance Agency, Inc.
3179 4th Street North
St. Petersburg, FL 33704
(727)-822-2505

Nancy has been a title insurance professional in St. Petersburg, Florida for over 30 years. A graduate of the University of Arkansas, Nancy taught special education for seven years before coming to Florida, when she joined Florida Title. She opened her own successful business, Sun Title Insurance Agency, Inc. in 1996. Nancy’s husband is Phil Baumann, a Tampa estates and trusts lawyer. They have three adult children and five grandchildren. When not working, or attending to family matters, Nancy and Phil, both licensed pilots, have been flying their plane throughout the United States and beyond for more than 20 years. Many of their flights are to attend professional meetings. Nancy is an active supporter of the MacDonald Training Center, an organization helping disabled persons to fully live the lives they choose, and the Judeo-Christian Health Clinic. That clinic is staffed entirely by volunteers to serve the medical needs of the working poor. She is also a member of the Florida Land Title Association (FLTA), the American Land Title Association (ALTA), The Kiwanis Club of St. Petersburg, The St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and a member of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club.

Leonard (Len) Prescott
Chair, Insurers’ Section
First Vice President
First American Title Insurance Company
2121 Ponce De Leon Boulevard, Suite 710
Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 908-6252

Len Prescott is Vice President, Florida State and Regional Counsel and a Regional Underwriting Director for First American Title Insurance Company. With an extensive and varied background in securities, insurance, and real estate, Len uses his first-hand experience and broad industry perspective to oversee the activities of the Company’s Florida State and Regional Underwriting Department. Aside from his leadership and management responsibilities, Len is a very active and experienced transactional underwriter and has underwritten many of the most complex and highest dollar transactions in Florida. Along with crafting solutions to the most complex underwriting issues, Len develops and presents educational programs for agents and production staff throughout the state, and frequently represents the interests of First American and its title agents before the Office of Insurance Regulation, the Florida Department of Financial Services, and the Florida Legislature. He has been a contributing author and advocate for many recent Florida statutes of importance to the industry including the treatment of Construction Liens, Estoppels, Property Information Reports, MRTA, Lis Pendens and Homestead. Len graduated, summa cum laude, from the University of New Hampshire, is a member of the Academic Honor Society Phi Beta Kappa and received his Law Degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. He has been regularly featured as a national speaker at the American Land Title Association’s ALTA One Conference, has served multiple past terms and is a current member of the Board of Directors for the Florida Land Title Association (FLTA), is current Chair of the FLTA Forms Committee and Chair of its Insurers Section, and is an active Member and Sponsor for the Executive Council of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section (RPPTL) of the Florida Bar. Len currently serves as a Vice-Chair of RPPTL’s Title Insurance Committee.

Skip Straus
Co-Chair, Government Affairs
Enterprise Title, Inc.
10081 Pine Blvd – Ste. C
Pembroke Pines, FL 33026
(954) 431-2000

Skip Straus is General Counsel/Vice President of Enterprise Title, Inc., with offices in Pembroke Pines and Weston. He has owned Enterprise with his wife Donna Straus since 1995. He is also a partner in Straus & Eisler, P.A., a general practice law firm concentrating on real property matters, probate, business transactions, and real estate litigation. In 2000, Skip pioneered the nation’s first completely electronic purchase mortgage closing. He became an active member of FLTA in 2003, serving as Zone VP, Vice-Chair of Govt. Affairs, Agents Section Chair and President (2015-2016). He has always advocated for the title industry: aiding passage of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA); founding So. Fla Property Rec. Education Partnership (SF-PREPS); serving as a member of the Florida Electronic Recording Advisory Committee, which wrote the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (URPERA); pushing for Estoppel Reform; and promoting the title agents as a member of the Florida Bar RPPTL. He is a proud member of ALTA. Skip graduated from Tufts University (B.A.) and University of Miami (J.D.). He and Donna have twin daughters, Stephanie and Jolie.

Kevin Thomas
Immediate Past President
Agents National Title Insurance Company
1505 Bonnie Burn Circle
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 895-3370

Kevin D. Thomas is Senior Vice President, Florida State Manager and Underwriting Counsel for Agents National Title Insurance Company and is based in Winter Park, Florida. Prior to joining Agents National he spent 12 years as Vice President and Florida Underwriting Counsel at another major title insurer and as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Director of Alliance Title of America, a Florida title insurer owned primarily by title agents until its acquisition by a major title insurer in 2003. He began his career in the title industry in 1985 and served as State Underwriting Counsel for other national title insurers specializing in commercial transactions. He is a member of the Florida Bar and has lectured extensively on title insurance and real property law. He served as a Staff Assistant to the President in the Carter White House. He received a B.A. in Foreign Service and International Politics from Pennsylvania State University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore.

Karla Staker
Chair, Past Presidents' Council
Fidelity National Title Group
2400 Maitland Center Pkwy Ste. 200
Maitland, FL 32751
(407) 618-5094

Karla J. Staker is a Vice President and State Underwriting Counsel with Fidelity National Title Group in Maitland, Florida. She holds bachelor degrees in accounting and business administration from Florida Southern College. She also holds a JD and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Florida. Except for a brief stint in private practice, Karla has been an underwriter with Fidelity National’s group of underwriters since 1986. She is a member of The Florida Bar and is board certified in Real Estate Law. She is also a member of the Executive Council of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of The Florida Bar. She serves as a co-vice chair of the Section’s Title Issues and Standards Committee. She is a past president of the Florida Land Title Association.

Charles L. Ferguson, CLS
Chair, CLT Institute Council
Fidelity National Title Group
2203 N. Lois Avenue, #450
Tampa, FL 33607
(813) 405-1395

Charles (Chuck) L. Ferguson is a Senior Commercial Examiner for the Fidelity National Title Florida Agency Operations. He is responsible for not only providing Commitments and other reports for the various customers served by the Company, but also in helping answer questions in trying to get them to closing. Being a transplant from the cold tundra of Northeast Ohio, he has been in the industry for more than 30 years and has been licensed in the state for over 25. He holds the designation of Certified Land-Title Searcher (CLS) since 1993. Charles is also the current chair for the Education Committee with the Florida Land Title Association.

Marty Solomon
Chair, Agents' Section
Awerbach | Cohn
28100 U.S. Hwy 19 North
Suite 104
Clearwater, FL 33761
(727) 725-3227

Marty Solomon has litigated for title insurers around the country for the past 16 years, from the Tampa office of Carlton Fields. He is a past chair of the FLTA Defense Roundtable committee, and first attended the Roundtable 13 years ago, with founding member Mark Brown. He typically handles coverage litigation, bad faith defense, defalcations, closing protection letter claims, market conduct examinations, direct litigation, and class action defense. He is an Executive Council member of the Florida Bar’s Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section (RPPTL). He has also been active with the Title Insurance Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tort and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS). He earned a B.A. in political science and sociology from New College of USF in Sarasota, and a J.D. from Tulane. He enjoys bicycling, photography, and skiing with his wife Trillany and their four children.

Shelley Stewart, CLC
Co-Chair, Government Affairs
Southern Title
2335 Beville Road
Daytona Beach, FL 32119
386-760-9800

Shelley Stewart, CLC, is President/CEO of Southern Title Holding Company, LLC a leading independent title insurance agency in the state of Florida. She returns to the Board of Directors after serving as Agent’s Section Chair in 2006-2007 and President in 2008, in addition to chairing numerous committees including Government Affairs. She is currently chair of the Data Call Committee and serves on the ad-hoc committee reviewing remote online notarization legislation. Shelley forged relationships with the state’s regulators and provided valuable insight when she was appointed by the Governor to the 2008 Title Insurance Industry Study Council. In addition, she worked tirelessly to educate legislators and regulators alike on the impact of financial reform on the thousands of small title agents throughout the state. Shelley has been instrumental in assisting with the development, and testifying regarding the consequences, of key legislation that has impacted title insurance agents across the state, including estoppel, file and use, data call, premium tax, licensing requirements, lien laws, and many others. Shelley earned the prestigious Raymond O. Denham Service Award in 2014, was twice named a Top Woman in Title, and has earned numerous other industry related honors. In addition to her role as President and CEO of Southern Title, she serves as FLTA - Government Affairs Committee, Data Call Committee Chair, Forms Committee, Past President’s Council, Co-chair and Trustee of the VBIA’s Housing for Tomorrow Political Action Committee, FHBA - 2nd VP and ALTA - Government Affairs, Best Practices Task Force, Federal & State Advocacy Committee.

Sabine Seidel
Treasurer
Westcor Land Title Insurance Company
875 Concourse Parkway South, Suite 200
Maitland, FL 32751
(407) 629-5842

Sabine is State Counsel for Westcor Land Title Insurance Company in its Maitland office. She has been with Westcor since 2005 and is in charge of the Florida underwriting department as well as assisting with commercial underwriting. She also teaches at Westcor’s annual seminars and various agent events. Sabine is originally from Germany and grew up in a military family. She received her undergraduate degree in legal studies from the University of Central Florida and her J.D. from the University of Memphis. Sabine was briefly in private practice but starting in 1999 at American Pioneer Title Insurance Company, her career has been in title insurance underwriting and claims. Sabine is a member of the Real Property Probate and Trust section of the Florida Bar and serves on the Title Issues and Standards, Commercial Real Estate and Title Insurance and Liaison Committees, as well as being a member of CREW Orlando. When not working Sabine loves spending time at the beach or the barn with her husband Joel and 9 year old daughter Hailey.

Lindsay Hall Harrison
Chair, Membership Committee
Alliant National Title Insurance Company
50 Windsormere Way,
Suite 1010
Oviedo, FL 32765
(407) 212-0455

Lindsay R. Hall Harrison is Underwriting Counsel at Alliant National Title Insurance Company’s Oviedo office. Lindsay was born in Toronto, Canada, grew up in Portland, Oregon and received her B.A. in Social Sciences from Portland State University. She moved to Florida to attend Barry University School of Law and remained in the Orlando area following graduation. Lindsay has practiced as a litigation attorney representing lenders and servicers in foreclosure proceedings throughout Florida’s courts, managing partner of a boutique real estate law firm and title company, and was previously Associate General Counsel of a large, national mortgage lender. Lindsay is a past board member and committee chair of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, a past board member of the Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers, past board member of the Women’s Counsel of Realtors Central Florida Chapter, current board member of A Gift For Music, and serves as an appointed member of the City of Maitland’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Lindsay was named as a 2015 Nominee of the Orlando Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business and was also bestowed with the Florida Association for Women Lawyer’s Class of 2015 Leaders in the Law award. Lindsay and her husband Andrew live in Maitland with their 2-year old daughter and enjoy scuba diving, kayaking, and travelling.

John Sthreshley
Chair, Cyber Security Committee
First International Title
1111 3rd Ave. West, Suite 240
Bradenton, FL 34205
(941) 806-7289

John Sthreshley is Vice President for First International Title, Inc. based in Coral Springs, FL. and has been with the company since its inception in 2009. A Bradenton, Fla. resident, Sthreshley has more than 30 years of proven management, personnel training, sales and strategic territory development in the highly competitive financial solutions industry. He is a graduate of Mary Baldwin College at Staunton, VA with a bachelor’s degree in business. Currently serves as chair to the Cyber Fraud Committee with the Florida Land Title Association (FLTA). John and his wife, Valerie, reside in Bradenton, they have four children and two grandchildren.

Timothy Steele
Director
CalAtlantic
405 North Reo Street,
Suite 320
Tampa, FL 33609
(813) 424-4600

Tim Steele oversees the North Florida Division of CalAtlantic Title Company. He is responsible for all management and operational aspects of the seven offices in that division, ranging from Tampa to Orlando. He joined CalAtlantic Title after practicing law as a real estate attorney, and as an assistant county attorney for Pasco County, Florida. He has extensive experience in drafting local ordinances and representing governmental bodies. Tim graduated from Stetson College of Law in St. Petersburg, and earned his Bachelors of Science degree in wildlife biology from Arizona State University.

Melissa Murphy
Director
Attorneys’ Title Fund Services, LLC
6545 Corporate Centre Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32822
(352) 538-7690

Ms. Murphy obtained her B.S. degree from Florida State University and her J. D. degree from the University of Florida. Prior to joining The Fund, she was in private practice in Gainesville for over 30 years, with a focus on real property transactional law. Ms. Murphy was a Fund agent and her firm has been in The Fund Top 25 several years. She also served as the Trustee from the 8th Judicial Circuit to Attorneys Title Insurance Fund, Inc. for 14 years prior to becoming General Counsel of The Fund. Ms. Murphy was an adjunct professor at the University of Florida for many years prior to moving to Orlando, teaching real property law at the law school and in the Masters of Science in Real Estate program in the business school. She serves on the Executive Council of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of The Florida Bar and was Chair of the Section in 2005-2006.

Mike LaRosa
Director
Florida Agency Network
1605 South Alexander Street, Sutie 102
Plant City, FL 33563
(813) 382-3880

Mike LaRosa is the COO for the Florida Agency Network (FAN), a conglomerate of independent title agencies, settlement service providers, and innovative technology companies within the State of Florida. Mike is based in the Tampa Bay marketplace. He received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida in 1995, in addition to his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida, College of Law in 1998. A 20 year title insurance veteran, he began his career with First American Title straight out of law school as Associate Counsel at the company’s divisional headquarters in Tallahassee. Over the years he was exposed to various aspects of the business, and eventually relocated to Tampa to help manage the Partnership Division, tasked with the creation and management of Affiliated Business Arrangement title agency partnerships. In 2007 he transitioned over to the Agency Division, running Agency sales and production for the Tampa Bay Area, ultimately growing into the role of Florida State Agency Manager, and then three years ago he took on his current role with FAN. Mike regularly lectures on title-related topics, with a specific focus on RESPA and compliance matters. When he’s not speaking on an industry topic or involved with multiple industry associations, Mike likes to spend time outdoors with his family or traveling, and he is a healthy-lifestyle/fitness enthusiast.

James C. Russick
Director
Old Republic Title Insurance Company
1408 N. Westshore Blvd., Ste. 900
Tampa, FL 33607
(813) 228-0555

Jim Russick is Vice President, Florida State & Governmental Affairs Counsel for Old Republic Title. He is a Fellow of both the prestigious American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. He has been Board Certified in Real Property Law by the Florida Bar since 1997. Jim brings over 33 years of experience to the title insurance community. He is an active member of the American Land Title Association where he has served on the Forms Committee since 2003. On that committee currently Chairs the Existing Forms Subcommittee and Co-Chairs the Commitment Subcommittee that spearheaded the 2016 Commitment. Jim is Past President of the Florida Land Title Association (FLTA) and has been awarded the Association’s highest award for service and dedication to the title industry. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar (RPPTL) where he has served on multiple substantive committees for many years. Jim received his B.A. in political science from Denison University in Granville, Ohio in 1974. He earned his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California in 1977. A graduate of the USAF Air War College, Jim is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserves.

Email: Executive Director, Scott Merritt
Email: Executive Assistant, Jena Daly

Phone: 850-681-6422

Florida Land Title Association is a 501(c)6 not-for-profit organization.

Mailing Address:
Florida Land Title Association
P.O. Box 66145
St. Pete Beach, FL 33736