Turn Times Top Lender Concerns, WFG Survey Shows

Turnaround times are among the chief operational challenges for lenders, according to a survey by Williston Financial Group (WFG). The results signal a marked increase in concern over the impact lengthy turnaround times are having on real estate transactions.

Conducted in June and July of this year, the survey asked mortgage lending executives from community banks, credit unions, bank and non-bank lenders, as well as members of the WFG Executive Roundtable to identify the biggest operational challenges facing the industry. A list was provided, along with a free-form fill-in option, from which they were to select the top three operational challenges they feel are most severe.

Respondents indicated turnaround time (56%) was the most significant operational challenge. In WFG's first survey, taken in fall 2020, only a quarter of those surveyed chose turnaround times as a major challenge.

The other most concerning operational challenges were operational capacity, volume and staffing (34%), technology implementation and integration (34%), communication (31%), training (19%), time management (19%), and process improvement/QC/errors and delays (16%).

Specific to title and settlement, the chief concern identified by those surveyed was again turn times (41%), followed by communication (34%), and data accuracy and quality (25%). Customer service and process Improvement/QC/errors and delays were tied at 22%.

"This feedback from the industry is leveraged to help us develop products and services that align with, and help solve these challenges for WFG’s mortgage-lending partners," said Dan Bailey, senior vice president of WFG's enterprise solutions and lender services divisions.