Stephen Derise Morel

17-year Louisiana-licensed attorney with extensive experience clearing real estate titles through transactional and litigation practices, and with particular expertise in curing complex title defects, and quieting, clearing and insuring tax sale titles. Created a title insurance product to systematically insure tax titles; created and developed a due diligence business that has used this insurance product and process to clear, resolve or facilitated the sale of over 4,000 government-held, 15-year average delinquent tax sale properties, since 2015; co-developed and counseled the first national title insurance company dedicated to underwriting title insurance for tax sale titles.

Co-founded, developed and operated a specialized real estate title insurance company with a dedicated operation for handling transactions on tax sale properties for nine years.

Created the first tax sale title insurance product and corresponding underwriting process for Louisiana's title insurers, enabling local government and private investors for the first time to regularly transact business with tax sale properties with clear, insurable title; a product and process now adopted in 15 states.

Created, developed and trained all personnel to operate a business within a software company to market, clear title to and auction government-held, tax-delinquent real estate by utilizing the company's flagship software platform and the created tax sale title insurance product, a business through which, since 2015 over 4,000 such properties, averaging 15+ years of delinquency, have been returned to productive, tax-paying status, generating over $50M in unbudgeted revenue for local Louisiana governments

Briefed and orally argued the first reported case in Louisiana addressing the validity of the State's 2009-revised, tax sale scheme, which produced an adverse ruling, but one that was subsequently overruled n a different case by the State Supreme Court.

Additionally have served as an appointed member of the Louisiana State Law Institute on its Tax Sales Committee, through which, have co-drafted a complete overhaul of Louisiana’s current real estate tax collection statutes and constitutional provisions to be considered for legislative and constitutional adoption in 2020.

Also have served as one of eight legislative commissioners for the National Tax Lien Association, and have extensively presented and provided training on government tax sale processes to the Louisiana Judicial College, the Louisiana Law Institute, the Louisiana Legislature, Sheriffs’ Association, Police Jury and Municipal Associations, the National Association of County Collectors Treasurers & Finance Officers, the National Tax Lien Association, the Tennessee Association of Property Tax Professionals, the Tennessee Trustees Association, the Missouri County Collectors Association, the Arkansas Commission of State Lands, the Florida Tax Collectors Association and over a hundred County/Parish and municipal government bodies throughout Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, West Virginia, Ohio, Idaho, South Carolina, Florida, and Kansas.