Virginia Beach, June 18, 1999

Richmond, April 3, 1999

Williamsburg, January 15, 1999

Charlottesville, September 26, 1998

The meeting, which was held at the University of Virginia School of Law, was called to order by Chairman Michael K. Smeltzer at approximately 10:10 AM. The following members of the Board of Governors and Area Representatives were present: John David Epperly, Minerva W. Andrews, Larry McElwain, Christina Meier, John Toole, Douglass W. Dewing, Susan Hepner, Chip Land, Pia Trigiani, Courtland Traver, Michael E. Barney, Chuck Rothenberg, Steve Wood, Michael Smith, Dave Schultz, Robin D. Alsop, Lawrence Schonberger, David Helscher, Gordon Wilkins, Craig Erdmann, Gary Peterson, Rob Pearsall, Mike Pace, Lynda Butler, Richard Mendelson, David Stroh, Paula S. Caplinger, Richard Becker, Jane Marum Roush, and Mike Smeltzer.

At the suggestion of Mr. Smeltzer, the attendees introduced themselves to the group.

The minutes from the June 19, 1998, meeting of the Board of Governors in Virginia Beach were approved.

Ms. Trigiani asked whether there were any issues that should be addressed with the VBA legislative subcommittee. Mr. Erdmann asked whether there was any chance that the legislature would repeal the new law requiring the address for trustees named in a deed of trust to appear in the trust. Mr. Traver stated that such action was unlikely because of the recent case law involving trustees as necessary parties in certain actions. Ms. Alsop suggested a law requiring the recordation of assignments of deeds of trust. Mr. Traver said that the Mortgage Bankers Association would oppose such legislation. Mr. Epperly suggested the possibility of changes in the area of trusts and estates to address common title problems that arise and Mr. Epperly agreed to draft a memo to be presented to the group for discussion.

The section financial report was presented and discussed.

Mr. Smeltzer discussed the need to fill Mr. Land's seat on the Board. He is awaiting suggestions for the position.

There was a discussion of the need for new area representatives. Ms. Butler stated that there was a need for new members to add new blood to the Section. Mr. Pace suggested a recruitment effort. Names of potential area representatives were mentioned and discussed.

Mr. Land nominated Robert H. Pearsall, Jr. of Richmond as a new Area Representative for the Central Region. The nomination was seconded and approved by the Board.

The First Day of Practice Program in Richmond was discussed. It was stated that Mr. Waugaman (not present) had stated that he was willing to be in charge of the program again.

Mr. Smeltzer mentioned the Land Use Seminar scheduled for January 28 in Northern Virginia and January 29 in Richmond.

The Advanced Real Estate Practice Seminar, scheduled for the Tides Inn on March 19-20, 1999, was discussed. Mr. Barney said there would be a program on REITs. Other speakers and topics were discussed. It was stated that there were going to be talks with the Tides Inn about improving the services provided by the Tides Inn to the attendees.

The 17th Annual Real Estate Practice Seminar (Spring) was discussed. Ms. Hepner requested suggestions for topics.

Mr. Smeltzer reported that Susan Hopkins Finley (VBA Land Use or Local Government Section) asked if the Real Property Section would be interested in a joint seminar at the Virginia Beach meeting. Mr. Traver suggested that Ed Prichard may be willing to talk about vesting of land use rights. Ms. Butler suggested Susan Pendak, County Attorney for Prince William County, and Art Walsh as possible speakers.

The upcoming Winter Board meeting in Williamsburg was discussed. It will be a joint meeting with the VBA Real Estate Section. Whether to meet again at the Cascades was discussed.

Mr. Traver discussed plans for a Commercial Real Estate Handbook. Currently only residential transactions are addressed in the Handbook. Mr. Traver urged anyone interested to attend a planning meeting in Richmond on October 7, 1998.

Ms. Butler solicited articles for the upcoming issue of The Fee Simple. There followed a discussion of possible articles and authors. Ms. Butler raised the issue of establishing a policy of reprints of articles from The Fee Simple. Mr. Traver suggested that reprints should be allowed with attribution to the author of the article. Mr. Pace suggested that there should be attribution to The Fee Simple also. Questions concerning intellectual property rights were discussed. Mr. Traver and Ms. Hepner volunteered to research the question.

Several brief subcommittee reports were presented.

Mr. Becker reported on VBA business. He reported that the VBA website--www.VBA.org--was still "under construction."

Mr. Epperly asked whether anyone knew the status of UPL No. 183. No one knew anything of its status.

Mr. Smeltzer adjourned the meeting at approximately noon.

Respectfully submitted,

John David Epperly, Secretary

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The meeting, which was held at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law of the College of William & Mary, was called to order by Chairman Michael K. Smeltzer at approximately 3:00 PM. The following persons were in attendance: John David Epperly, Douglass W. Dewing, K. Wayne Glass, David R. Schultz, Steven W. Blaine, Leslie Argenta, Susan K. Hepner, Chris Dillon, Rob Pearsall, David C. Helscher, Michael Barney, Lucia Anna Trigiani, Gary G. Peterson, Patrick R. Pettitt, Paula S. Caplinger, Joseph W. Richmond, Jr., Neil S. Kessler, Christina E. Meier, Harry R. Purkey, Jr., Thomas F. Williams, Jr., Daniel R. Goodwin, Randy C. Howard, John H. Toole, Susan M. Pesner, Charles E. Land, G. Michael Pace, Jr., Richard K. A. Becker, Jane Marum Roush, C. Grice McMullan, Jr., Lynda L. Butler, and James B. Lonergan.

At the suggestion of Mr. Smeltzer, the attendees introduced themselves to the group.

The minutes from the September 26, 1998, fall meeting of the Board of Governors in Charlottesville were approved.

The section financial report was presented and discussed.

Mr. Smeltzer reported that the nominating committee had nominated Paula Caplinger to fill Mr. Land’s seat on the Board of Governors. Ms. Caplinger’s nomination was seconded and approved by unanimous vote.

Mr. Smeltzer requested nominations for new Area Representatives. The following persons were nominated and approved as new Area Representatives: Patrick R. Pettitt (Newport News), M. Scott Stein (Newport News), Leslie Argenta (Richmond), S. Anderson Nelson (Southside), Lawrence Daughtrey (Fairfax), Chris Dalton, Kirk Levy, Rob Barclay (Portsmouth), Allison Markell, Tasos Galiotos, and C. Grice McMullan, Jr. Mr. Smeltzer asked that everyone confirm in writing the names, addresses, and other pertinent information for the new Area Reps.

The First Day of Practice Program in Richmond was discussed. In Mr. Waugaman’s absence, Mr. Smeltzer gave the report. Mr. Smeltzer reported that 102 new members of the Section were signed up. In addition, a copy of the VBA suggested real estate forms disk was given away. Mr. Smeltzer reports that the Real Property Section is the only VSB section that participates in the program.

Several upcoming seminars were discussed. Mr. Blaine previewed the Land Use Seminar scheduled for January 28 in Northern Virginia and January 29 in Richmond. Mr. Gordon previewed the Advanced Real Estate Practice Seminar, scheduled for the Tides Inn on March 19-20, 1999. The 17th Annual Real Estate Practice Seminar scheduled for May 6 (Richmond), May 7 (Roanoke), May 13 (Northern Virginia) and May 14 (Norfolk) was discussed. Lastly, there was a discussion of the joint seminar with the Local Government Section at the VSB Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.

Mr. Smeltzer disclosed the schedule for the next two meetings of the Section—April 3 in Richmond at the VHDA Headquarters and June 18 at the VSB Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.

Mr. Traver updated everyone on the Commercial Real Estate Handbook project. There has been one general organizational meeting. Mr. Traver solicited volunteers to help write. Topics will be assigned in the absence of enough volunteers. The writers will assist the three editors: Mr. Traver, Neil Kessler, and Rick Richmond. More to come.

Ms. Butler again asked for articles for the upcoming issue of The Fee Simple. She reports that the deadline for articles is April 16, 1999, and that she has very few articles at this point. There followed a discussion of possible articles and authors.

Ms. Pesner reported on the latest news concerning UPL 183. She reported that the legislature will be considering legislation that may render UPL 183 moot, and encouraged all who have an opinion on the matter to contact their state legislators.

Mr. Epperly reported on his progress in drafting a memo regarding problems in the area of trusts and estates.

Several brief subcommittee reports were presented. Mr. Howard reported that the Section now has 1,886 members, which makes it the second largest section: behind litigation and ahead of criminal.

Ms. Trigiani presented a brief report on VBA business.

Mr. Smeltzer adjourned the meeting at approximately 4:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

John David Epperly, Secretary

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The meeting, which was held at the offices of the Virginia Housing Development Authority, The Virginia Housing Center, Richmond, Virginia, was called to order by Chairman Michael K. Smeltzer at approximately 10:00 AM. The following persons were in attendance: John David Epperly, K. Wayne Glass, David R. Schultz, Leslie Argenta, Susan K. Hepner, Chris Dillon, Rob Pearsall, David C. Helscher, Michael E. Barney, Lucia Anna Trigiani, Gary G. Peterson, Christina E. Meier, Harry R. Purkey, Jr., C. Grice McMullan, Jr., Hugh Harrison, Chuch Rothenberg, Larry J. McElwain, Edward W. (Skip) Lautenschlager, Gordon Wilkins, Tasos Galiotos, Stephen B. Wood, George Rowe, Robert Barclay, Louis J. Rogers, Richard B. Chess, Craig Erdman, Lawrence A. Daughtrey, M. Scott Stein, Howard E. Gordon, Jeffrey M. Stedfast, David W. Stroh, S. Anderson Nelson, Kirk Levy, Robin D. Alsop, Lawrence M. Schonberger, and R. Michael Smith.

At the suggestion of Mr. Smeltzer, the attendees introduced themselves to the group.

The minutes from the January 15, 1999, winter meeting of the Board of Governors in Williamsburg were discussed. The minutes were amended to add the list of attendees, which had been lost, but was now found, and to add the name of C. Grice McMullan, Jr. to the list of new Area Representatives elected at the meeting. As amended, the minutes were approved.

The section financial report was discussed. Mr. Smeltzer expressed appreciation to Lee Hickock of Virginia CLE for help in sponsoring the reception after the winter meeting in Williamsburg.

Mr. Smeltzer requested nominations for new Area Representatives. Richard B. Chess was nominated and approved as a new Area Representative from the Central Region. Mr. Smeltzer asked that everyone confirm in writing the names, addresses, and other pertinent information for any new Area Reps.

Several upcoming seminars were discussed. Mr. Gordon discussed the planning for next year’s Advanced Real Estate Practice Seminar. Suggestions for topics and speakers were requested. Ms. Hepner discussed The 17th Annual Real Estate Practice Seminar scheduled for May 6 (Richmond), May 7 (Roanoke), May 13 (Northern Virginia) and May 14 (Norfolk) She thanked Mr. Traver for his support and encouragement. Lastly, there was a discussion of the joint seminar with the Local Government Section at the VSB Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.

Mr. Traver reported on the Commercial Real Estate Handbook project. The next meeting is scheduled for April 20, 1999, at 11:00 AM at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. Mr. Traver encouraged anyone interested to attend. Lunch will be served. At 1 PM a conference call will be set up to accommodate those unable to attend in person. The goal is to have enough authors for each topic to relieve some of the burden.

In Ms. Butler’s absence, Mr. Traver discussed the upcoming issue of The Fee Simple. Several potential articles and authors were discussed. The deadline for articles is April 16, 1999.

Mr. Smeltzer discussed the appointment of the Nominating Committee, which must be done prior to the 61^st Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach in June.

Mr. Epperly presented a memo regarding title problems in the area of trusts and estates. The contents of his memo were briefly discussed. Mr. Smeltzer and others suggested that the memo could be turned into an article for the upcoming edition of The Fee Simple. Mr. Traver suggested that Mr. Epperly send a copy of the article to the appropriate persons at the VLTA, in order to have their support. Mr. Harrison from the VBA reported that the VBA would look at the issues.

Several brief subcommittee reports were presented.

Mr. Harrison presented a report on VBA business. He discussed the effort to produce a third edition of the Homebuyer’s Manual. Mr. Harrison solicited suggestions for distributing copies of the manual. Copies would be distributed to the VAR, but no concrete plans had been made beyond that. Mr. Traver asked if they had considered a Spanish language edition. Mr. Harrison said that it had been considered but it was decided not to do so at this time. Mr. Harrison discussed the VBA website: www.VBA.org. Mr. Harrison stated that the VBA had lost a little momentum in actively proposing legislation and wanted to get that momentum back. Everyone’s participation was encouraged.

Ms. Trigiani presented a report on current legislation.

Mr. Schonberger discussed a recent advertisement placed by an attorney in the Leesburg area.

Mr. Smeltzer adjourned the meeting at approximately 11:30 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

John David Epperly, Secretary

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The meeting, which was held at the Holiday Inn in Virginia Beach at the Annual Meeting of the Virginia State Bar, was called to order by Vice Chair Susan Hepner at approximately 12:19 PM. The following persons were in attendance: K. Wayne Glass, Susan K. Hepner, David C. Helscher, Michael E. Barney, Gary G. Peterson, Stephen B. Wood, Howard E. Gordon, Robin D. Alsop, R. Michael Smith, Ray W. King, Charles E. (Chip) Land, Paula S. Caplinger, Randy C. Howard, Douglass W. Dewing, David W. Stroh, William F. (Bud) Roeder, Joseph W. (Rick) Richmond, Jr., Joe Cochran, Steven W. Blaine, Robert Hawthorne, Robert Hawthorne, Jr., Susan M. Pesner, Courtland L. Traver, Ed Waugaman, John David Epperly, and J. B. Lonergan.

The minutes from the April 3, 1999, spring meeting of the Board of Governors in Richmond were approved.

The section financial report was discussed. An end-of-year surplus was reported. A discussion followed concerning giving the officers of the Board the discretion to disburse such funds. A motion to that effect was proposed, seconded and passed.

Mr. Howard reported that the Real Property Section is the third largest section with 1,901 members, trailing only the Litigation Section and the Criminal Law Section, second largest with 1,902 members.

Mr. Land presented the report of the Nominating Committee. The following were nominated for the Board (terms in parentheses): Stephen R. Romine (2); Larry J. McElwain (1); Stephen B. Wood (1); and Christina E. Meier (1). Thomas F. Williams, Allen C. Tanner, Jr., and Charles E. (Chip) Land, as Board members whose terms have expired, were nominated to be Area Representatives. Michael K. Smeltzer becomes ex-officio member as immediate past chair. The following were nominated as officers of the Board: Chairman—Susan K. Hepner; Vice Chairman-- John David Epperly; and Secretary—Lawrence M. Schonberger. A motion was made, seconded, and approved by unanimous vote to accept the nominations and elect the members, officers and Area Reps as presented by the Nominating Committee.

Newly elected Chair Susan Hepner presented plaques of appreciation to Michael Smeltzer and others for their contributions to the Section.

Mr. Richmond reported that a new draft of the Virginia Bar Association suggested form residential purchase contract was being prepared and would be distributed. He encouraged everyone to comment.

Mr. Richmond reported that a $10,000 grant had been received to update the Homebuyer’s Manual. He stated that the grant must be spent in the same fiscal year it was granted and therefore must be done quickly. A discussion followed about the possibility of translating the manual into Spanish. Mr. Traver suggested contacting the Hispanic Bar for assistance in that effort.

Ms. Pesner reported that Barbara Williams, VSB Counsel needs an attorney with real estate expertise to act as liaison to assist Bar Counsel when the VSB has to place a suspended attorney’s practice into receivership. Ms. Hepner agreed to appoint someone to act in that capacity.

Mr. Traver reported on the progress of the Commercial Real Estate Handbook project. He reminded everyone of the time constraints and asked that everyone involved complete their assigned outlines.

Mr. Lonergan commended and congratulated Susan Pesner for her election to the Executive Committee of the VSB.

Ms. Hepner adjourned the meeting at approximately 1:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

John David Epperly, Secretary

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