First National Title Announces Several New Hires

April 9, 2020

First National Title Insurance Company (FNTI) continues to grow and is now operating in eight states. To accommodate the expansion into Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Tennessee, new staff has been added to service the business in currently licensed and the newly added states.

  • Rustin Khavari, VP/Claims & Underwriting Counsel: Rustin Khavari brings experience from both the agency sector of the title industry and private practice. He has experience in surface and mineral title examination, law firm experience, both in civil litigation and transactional law and most recently served as in-house counsel with a title agent prior to joining our team. Rustin will also support the education of FNTI title agents as well as their real estate industry clients. He is certified to teach continuing education courses for both the Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas Department of Insurance.
  • Tara Caballero, Agency Representative: Tara Caballero has worked in title industry since 2016 where she was a client relations manager with a large Texas title company. She was responsible for servicing the needs of the clients as well as supporting the company’s escrow officers. Her duties will include supporting the existing title agents as well as growing this business and adding additional agents.
  • David Dickard, VP/Western Regional Underwriting Counsel: “David” Dickard has been named as vice president and Western Regional underwriting counsel, serving Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada. He previously served as both underwriting and claims counsel for several prominent underwriters and agents in the region. Dickard began his title insurance and legal careers in Texas, starting in title and advancing to chief title officer. He eventually moved to the escrow side of the business and spent five years as a closer, advancing to senior escrow officer. Dickard was admitted to the Colorado Bar Association in 1995 and returned to the title industry as in-house counsel upon relocating to Colorado the next year. Over the past 23 years, he has worked for national underwriters in both Colorado and Arizona as underwriting counsel and claims counsel as well as serving as president of a direct operation in Colorado Springs.
  • Lori Gardner, Director of Licensing and Compliance: Lori Gardner joins First National Title with more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. Starting in property and casualty and making the transition to title in 2004, she has a multi-discipline background including customer service, P&C claims, training, business analyst, and her most recent roles in licensing and compliance. Gardner will serve as the director of licensing and compliance for FNTI as the company expands into new states.


Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].