National Conference of State Legislatures Spring Forum
Title Insurance: Do You Get What You Pay For?
Friday, April 20, 2007
1:15 pm - 2:45 pm
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
Speaker Biographies
Barbara Blitz
American Land Title Association
Virginia
Barbara G. Blitz is Vice President and Counsel of Commercial Title Group, Inc. She is a graduate cum laude of Lynchburg College with a B.A. in English and earned her Juris Doctorate degree in 1975 from The T. C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. She began her career in the title insurance industry in 1975 with Chicago Title Insurance Company, serving as Virginia State Counsel, Virginia State Manager and Regional Counsel for a seven state area including Virginia and the DC Metro Area. In her capacity as Regional Counsel, she supervised all underwriting, claims and corporate legal matters for Chicago Title. In 1990, she became a principal of Commercial Title Group, Ltd. and in 2000 she was organizer and principal of Commercial Title Group, Inc. Both companies are agents for five national title insurance companies and specialize in title and settlement services for commercial properties in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Ms. Blitz is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the Fairfax, Virginia and American Bar Associations, Past President of the Virginia Land Title Association, served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Agent-Abstractor Section of the American Land Title Association, and a member of Commercial Real Estate Women - Northern Virginia Chapter. She has been a frequent lecturer at title insurance seminars sponsored by title insurance underwriters, and at continuing education seminars sponsored by state and local Bar Associations and Land Title Associations.
J. Robert Hunter
Director of Insurance
Consumer Federation of America
Washington, D.C.
Mr. Hunter serves as the Director of Insurance for the Consumer Federation of America. CFA is a nonprofit association of 300 organizations that, since 1968, has sought to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy and education. Mr. Hunter has served as Federal Insurance Administrator under Presidents Ford and Carter and as Texas Insurance Commissioner under Governor Ann Richards. He has served as a consultant to government agencies and consumer organizations. Mr. Hunter has published multiple reports and studies.
Loyd Ogle
Director
Title Guaranty Division
Iowa Finance Authority
Iowa
Loyd W. Ogle had been the Director of the Title Guaranty Division of the Iowa Finance Authority since the spring of 2004. He served for five years as the Policy and Government Affairs Director of the Iowa Finance Authority. He was the Executive Director of a non-profit for five years and also was a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Polk County. He received his law degree from the University of Iowa, College of Law in 1991 and a B.A. from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA in 1987.
Ethan Sonnichsen
Government Relations Associate
National Association of Insurance Commissioners
Washington, D.C.
Ethan Sonnichsen joined the Washington office of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in February 2006 to serve as the association's point of contact with Congress, federal agencies, and other stakeholders on property and casualty insurance issues. In that role, he has helped develop and implement the organization's activities concerning a number of legislative issues, including natural catastrophe management, terrorism risk insurance, flood insurance, and surplus lines and title insurance reform. Prior to joining the NAIC, Mr. Sonnichsen was lead staff for the Risk Management and Financial Reporting Council of the American Academy of Actuaries, where he coordinated various committees in developing the Academy's policy positions on international accounting standards development, enterprise risk management, and insurer solvency assessment. He received a B.S. in Management and Information Systems from the University of Maryland. Despite his background in accounting and insurance issues, Ethan is a pretty fun guy.
 Return to CFI Committee's 2007 Spring Forum Agenda
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