UTA Announces 2013 Officers

Joyce Copeland,
UTA President-Elect

Joyce Copeland, of Barrett, Daffin Frappier Treder & Weiss, LLP, based in Diamond Bar, California, was elected by her colleagues on the Association's Board of Directors to serve as President of the Association for 2013. Ms. Copeland has served as UTA's Chief Financial Officer for the past two years. As Operations Manager of Barrett, Daffin Frappier Treder & Weiss, LLP she provides leadership, guidance and direction to operations and legal staff. Joyce has been working in the real estate default sector since 1981. These years have given her practical experience as an independent trustee in a multi-state environment, experience in the default loan servicing environment as well as the legal environment. Joyce has conducted numerous seminars for UTA, including 'Basic Foreclosure 101' and 'Bidding Strategies at the Trustee Sale'.

Elizabeth M. Knight was elected as Vice President of UTA for the 2013 term.  Ms. Knight, who served as Secretary of the Association in 2012 is President of PLM Lender Services, based in Campbell, California.  PLM Lender Services is an independent trustee service which specializes in foreclosures, private investor loan servicing, loan documentation, bulk assignments, reconveyances and REO disposal.  Elizabeth has been in the foreclosure and loan servicing field since 1981.  She has been in the real estate field (with emphasis on escrow prior to 1981) since 1977.  Elizabeth is a graduate of St. Mary's College with her Bachelor's degree in Business Management.  She is a court qualified expert in the field of foreclosure and is a licensed California Real Estate Broker.  She is a frequent instructor of seminars in foreclosure and loan servicing.

Randy Newman, Esq., President of Total Lender Solutions based in Escondido, California was elected the Association’s Chief Financial Officer for the 2013 term.  Mr. Newman regularly lectures for UTA’s for Level I Certification and Foreclosure 101 courses.  He has been involved in the default servicing market for over 25 years representing lenders in both judicial and nonjudicial foreclosures and has extensive experience in all aspects of real estate and currently lecture on various real estate topics, including foreclosures.  Mr. Newman is a member of the New York and New Jersey Bars.

Deborah Kaufman, Vice President of Operations for Regional Trustee Services was elected the Association’s Secretary for the 2013 term.  Ms. Kaufman oversees the daily operations of nonjudicial foreclosures in eight states and nationwide lien release services.  She has been involved with the UTA since 2007 and in 2010 helped to write and teach the Washington State certification course.  Ms. Kaufman started her career at Ticor Title in Seattle and worked in the title industry for 5 years. This title experience together with the paralegal certificate helped her to obtain employment as a foreclosure paralegal at a local law firm where she worked for one year before leaving to join Regional Trustee Services where she has worked since 1991.

Robert Finlay, Esq., Partner with Wright, Finlay & Zak, based in Newport Beach, California, will serve in the Officer position of ‘Past-President’.  He has served as the Association’s President for the past two years.   Mr. Finlay’s entire legal career has been dedicated to representing members of the mortgage industry.  In 2001, Robert co-founded Wright, Finlay & Zak, specializing in representing lenders, loan servicers, foreclosure trustees and title companies in all aspects of real estate and mortgage-related litigation. Mr. Finlay is a regular contributor to UTA Quarterly and recently wrote an amicus brief for UTA.

View the 2013 UTA Board of Directors