That’s it, it’s over, it’s all over. Another ILTA Annual Convention is in the
books. Each and every year the
outstanding staff of the association keeps finding ways to outdo
themselves. Michael and Darlene Lane
along with Susan Tolley put in countless hours of work to ensure that the ILTA
offers new and exciting venues and programs.
This year’s Convention at the iHotel & Conference Center in
Champaign, IL was no exception.
The Convention began with the 4th Annual “Agent’s
Only” dinner. Though this event is
young, it’s hard to imagine a convention without the camaraderie that this
dinner inspires. We find ourselves in a
challenging environment, but optimism was heard and a vision for the future is beginning
to take shape. Our industry and indeed
our nation is best served with a strong and vibrant agency model and events
like the “Agent’s Only” dinner show our memberships commitment to these great
businesses.
The following day began with Committee Meetings and the
Board Meeting, after which the convention moved seamlessly into a panel
discussion featuring two of our own. Frank Pellegrini, past ILTA President and
past ALTA President and Dan Mennenoh, past ILTA President and current Chair of
the ALTA Agents and Abstractors Section joined Leslie Wyatt of Softpro for a
lively discussion of the regulatory environment, upcoming changes and the new
realities of our industry.
Later in the evening after wonderful PAC and Underwriter
Receptions the convention transitioned into the Installation Banquet. As the crowd thanked now Past President Walt
Adams for his thoughtful leadership over the past year, we also congratulated
incoming President Paul Presney, Jr and the others installed as leaders. Always a special event, this Installation
Banquet took on even greater significance as the association recognized 40
members in attendance who had completed either their ITP (Illinois Title
Professional), IEP (Illinois Escrow Professional) or both. The celebratory mood lingered long into the
evening.
The final day of the convention kicked off with reports from
Wisconsin, Missouri and Iowa as well as a report from ALTA and the DFI update. I believe the highlight of the day was a
mortgage fraud report delivered by Brad Geary of Housing and Urban Development
and Lyle Evans of the FBI and moderated by Linda Grahovec. This was a humbling look inside the criminal
world of mortgage fraud. This fraud is
still happening and it is getting more complex.
It’s quite clear that we as an industry must remain vigilant against
this ever present danger. After lunch
the convention concluded on a high note with a very informative and positive financial
markets update from John Chapman of BSC Private Wealth Management.
On a personal note, I have made no secret of the fact that
the ILTA Convention is a highlight of my calendar. For me this event has always been about
friendship and fellowship. Coming
together as friends to celebrate our commonalities instead of our differences
for a few days is truly special. I’ve
made dozens of wonderful friends at these events and each year I add a few more
to the list. I hope to see many of you
at the quarterly committee meetings in October as we begin to build the bridge
to next year’s annual convention.
