Williston Financial Group's 10th Anniversary Comes in a Year of Challenge, Expansion, and Record Volumes

Williston Financial Group’s 10th Anniversary Comes in a Year of Challenge, Expansion, and Record Volumes

Distributed by Business Wire
7th October 2020

Three new product releases highlight 2020 for the full-service provider of nationwide title insurance and real estate settlement services

PORTLAND, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Williston Financial Group (WFG), a Portland-based, full-service provider of title insurance and real estate settlement services for commercial and residential transactions nationwide, is marking its 10^th Anniversary in 2020 with record sales volume, three new Fintech product releases, and validation from both customers and the industry.

While keeping the focus on employee, client and colleague safety, WFG’s success despite the historic social and economic challenges of a global pandemic confirms its long-term stability, which is a testament to the principles upon which Executive Chairman Patrick Stone founded the company in 2010.

WFG’s mission had a central goal: to create a single technology platform that could bring together all real estate transaction participants, then leverage it to provide maximum collaboration and efficiency.

In 2020, examples of this came from WEST, WFG’s wholly owned technology and data security services subsidiary. By enhancing and expanding the availability of three of its proprietary technology offerings, WEST allowed WFG to advance the industry at large. DecisionPoint^SM, an award winning, automated title-decisioning system enables lenders to know almost instantly a loan’s application-to-close time. The WESTprotect^SM cybersecurity helpdesk service now includes a new self-service cybersecurity website. Introduced in September, westprotect.com enables real estate agents, lenders, title agents, and other settlement service providers to sign up for alerts about active Internet fraud threats and submit questionable emails for evaluation. Later this month WEST and WFG Lender Services are formally co-launching MyHome® for mortgage lenders. This is a greatly expanded version of the company’s consumer collaboration portal service, which has been in use for several years within WFG’s direct title operations. MyHome provides transparency to every participant in the real estate transaction – consumer, REALTOR^®, lender, loan officer, processor, and funder – through direct, immediate web and mobile access.

A decade of solid tradition

In 2010, still in the shadow of another financial crisis, Stone saw great opportunities for a client-centric, tech-focused family of companies in the title insurance and real estate settlement services industry. He had already built a prominent career in C-level positions with three public companies and directorships on two Fortune 500 boards, and nine years as president and COO of the nation’s largest title insurance company.

According to Stone, WFG had an advantage then because, although established title insurance underwriters had made some changes to take advantage of new technologies, those companies remained burdened by sunk costs and committed to traditional operating standards.

In just five years, WFG National Title Insurance Company, WFG’s Portland-based flagship, had become one of only six national underwriting firms, and accomplished it faster than any other company in history.

The emphasis on technology has allowed WFG to grow both steadily and securely into a family of companies providing products and services across much of the real estate and mortgage spectrum. Its Enterprise Solutions group includes title and closing service providers WFG Lender Services, WFG Default Title Services, and Valutrust Solutions^®, a national appraisal management and property valuation provider.

“The market remains underserved in the sense that the mortgage lending market has changed so quickly that everyone is still trying to keep up,” Stone said earlier this year. “The opportunity for a new player to come in 10 years ago, and be client-oriented and use technology to replace hierarchical management structures, is exactly the kind of firm lenders want to partner with today. In these uncertain times, we see our vision of a fully integrated tech stack as the main force of customers’ stability.”

WFG, Stone and President and CEO Steve Ozonian all receive high marks from consumers and industry insiders. Both executives received Progress in Lending “Lending Luminaries” awards in 2019, as well as a HousingWire Vanguard Award for Stone in 2019 and for Ozonian this year. In September 2020, Stone received October Research’s “Leadership Award.”

Most importantly, WFG continues to receive consistent Net Promoter Score (NPS) ratings from customers, in the high 70s or above – a “world-class” service rating across all industries.

“We adopted NPS some years ago,” Stone said, “and we are proud to maintain such positive feedback. It has helped WFG measure performance and improve service levels. This, combined with the drive of dedicated teams throughout the WFG organization, has us well-poised for success as we enter our second decade.”

To view a special 10-year anniversary message from WFG Founder and Executive Chairman Patrick Stone visit: https://national.wfgnationaltitle.com/wfg-news/10th-anniversary/

About Williston Financial Group

Williston Financial Group is the Portland, Oregon-based parent company of several national title insurance and settlement services providers, including WFG Lender Services and WFG National Title Insurance Company. It is one of the fastest growing national title insurance and settlement services providers in the mortgage and real estate services industry.