KANIA LAW FIRM - Key Persons
Chad Haight hails from Tampa, Florida and traded the glittering waters of the Gulf for the gleaming Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina in 2021. Prior to joining the Kania Law Firm as an Associate Attorney, Chad's legal work experience included construction law, complex business litigation, and insurance defense. As a first-generation college graduate, Chad has always put an emphasis on maintaining perspective and showing appreciation towards the countless people that have helped him along his journey through life.
Lauren is a Partner with The Kania Law Firm, P.A., where she focuses her practice solely on tax collection and tax foreclosure. Before joining the Kania Law Firm as an Associate Attorney in 2019, Lauren gained extensive experience involving mortgage foreclosure practice and creditors' rights and financial services litigation.
Hunter began his professional career as a mortgage foreclosure attorney in North Carolina. He subsequently moved to New Mexico, where he served as in-house counsel for a local bank. Afterward, Hunter relocated to Colorado, where he audited legal and regulatory compliance in the mortgage industry. He later acquired his real estate broker's license in order to assist aspiring homeowners. Hunter returned to North Carolina and joined the Kania Law Firm in 2020, and has since focused his practice on tax foreclosure law.
Jay has practiced real estate law for the last 36 years of his 39-year legal career. His primary focus for as long as he can remember has been the review and certification of real estate title searches. He is fully conversant with every issue arising in a title search context, marketability and insurability issues, and the corrective measures needed when faced with title defects.
Jonathan S. Fernandez was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and is a graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law. After law school, Jonathan relocated to Asheville, North Carolina. In 2021, Jonathan was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar. Since then, Jonathan has focused his practice on tax collection and tax foreclosure sales law, and commercial and residential real estate law.
Michael joined The Kania Law Firm as an associate in the summer of 2023 and has a decade of experience representing clients in various matters. Prior to joining the firm his areas of practice focused primarily on helping small businesses in real estate acquisitions, franchise agreements, leasing, as well as various aspects of entity formation and governance.
Rick has practiced in a wide variety of areas in his 40+ years as an attorney, including real estate title litigation, residential and commercial real estate closings, estate planning and administration, bankruptcy law, and collection litigation, and has since 2012 concentrated solely on tax collection and tax foreclosure sales. As managing partner of the Firm, he has overseen the collection of delinquent taxes in excess of 28 million dollars.
A former elementary school teacher, Sarah looks forward to the opportunities and challenges that each day brings at the Kania Law Firm. Prior to joining the firm, she practiced as a Staff Attorney at the North Carolina General Assembly, specializing in elections, ethics, and redistricting. While earning her law degree, Sarah held positions in a nonprofit and community legal clinic, worked as a teaching scholar and research assistant in legal writing, and held internships in local government and state and federal judicial systems.