2023 Residential Real Estate College

Presenters

Michael F. Harris

Heritage Abstract Company, Morristown

is President of Heritage Abstract Company in Morristown, New Jersey, one of the most respected title insurance and settlement agencies in New Jersey.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Mr. Harris has been a member of the American Land Title Association. Following his judicial clerkship he worked as a medical malpractice defense attorney. He joined Heritage Abstract Company as staff attorney and purchased the company in 2004.

Mr. Harris is a graduate of the University of Delaware and Widener University School of Law. He clerked for the Honorable Hermann L. Breitkopf, A.J.S.C., Middlesex County, New Jersey.
(8/23)

Christine L. Matus, Esq.

The Matus Law Group, Toms River

is the owner and founder of The Matus Law Group in Toms River, New Jersey, which focuses in estate planning, real estate transactions, special needs trusts and other matters. She is also a mediator with the Superior Court of New Jersey’s Special Civil Part.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Ms. Matus is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association (APALA), and Secretary of the Ocean County Bar Association. She is also a member of the American Bar Association, where she serves on its Advisory Panel. A former Board Member of the Ocean County YMCA and a former member of the Central Ocean County Rotary, Ms. Matus has served as General Counsel to the Attorney Ethics and Disciplinary Board, District IIIA. She is President of MOCEANS, Inc., has served as General Counsel to non-profit organizations and is a former Director of the American Cancer Society’s Ocean County Chapter.

Ms. Matus has lectured to the public on topics ranging from special needs (estate) planning to real estate as well as to corporate organizations regarding non-profit rules and regulations. The author of Basic Estate Planning for Parents With Special Needs Children, she is a contributing editor to the Turning Point, a newsletter for the Filipino community in Ocean County. She has also co-authored articles on elder law topics and is the recipient of several honors.

Ms. Matus received her B.A. from Douglass College, Rutgers University, and her J.D. from Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, where she was a member of the Senior Staff of the International Law Review and was the recipient of several other honors.
(8/23)

Caroline Record, Esq., CCAL

Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP, Roseland

is a Partner in the Cedar Knolls, New Jersey, office of Hill Wallack, LLP. A member of the Community Associations and Real Estate Practice Groups, she concentrates her practice in community association law and residential real estate. Her practice also includes estate planning and administration, special needs trusts, guardianship applications, foreclosure and other real estate-related work.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia, Ms. Record is a past President of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and a former Trustee and Past Chair of its Editorial and Legislative Action Committees. She is Past Chair of the Common Interest Ownership Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association, a former member of the Board of Consultors of the NJSBA Real Property, Trusts and Estates Section, and Past President of the New Jersey Community Association Political Action Committee. Ms. Record was elected to the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Community Association Research, is Past President of the Foundation and served on CAI’s Business Partner’s Council from 2009-2012. She was an investigator for the District X Ethics Committee from 1999 to 2003 and has served as Secretary of the District XA and XB Ethics Committees since 2006. She also teaches the M204 class in Community Governance for CAI.

Ms. Record received her undergraduate degree, with highest honors from the Political Science Department, from Rutgers College and her law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law.
(8/23)