Lender Entity Preferences

This article explains how to configure entity preferences in Lender Admin. 

Entity Preferences is the default selection when accessing the Admin Tab, or you can access this screen by clicking the Entity Preferences link on any screen within the Admin tab.

Begin by selecting the entity you want to edit the preferences for:

You can also choose to apply individual settings to all entities.

Entity Preferences are grouped into nine sections, each with corresponding settings:

  • Locking Options
  • Loan Officers
  • Secondary/Lock Desk
  • Compliance Checklist
  • Premium Content Options
  • Branch/Broker Companies
  • Email/System Display
  • Integration Options
  • QM Options

TIP: Use the Windows command CTRL-F to enable text search and type keywords to quickly find the setting(s) you want to make changes to.

Locking Options

This section contains several important settings around rate lock behavior in Optimal Blue. Below are a few examples:

  • Do you want to automatically lock loans when they are requested? – If set to Yes, when the loan originators submit the lock, the loan will immediately go into a Locked status. If set to No, the status will be set to Lock Pending in Optimal Blue. Optimal Blue will generate the automated lock accept email which is sent to the loan originator when auto accept is set to yes.
  • Do you want to suspend all lock requests? – If set to Yes, all users in all entities will not be able to submit lock requests. This is effectively an emergency shut off switch for locks within your organization.
  • Do you want locks to expire on Saturdays? – If set to No, the lock will expire on the previous business day.
  • Do you want locks to expire on Sundays? – If set to No, the lock will expire on the previous business day.
  • Do you want locks to expire on Holidays? – If set to No, the lock will expire on the previous business day.
  • Do you want lock expirations to roll forward on holidays/weekends? – If set to No, the lock will expire based on the policy settings above.
  • What time do you want your locks to expire (CST)? By default, locks will expire at midnight on the day of expiration. – This setting allows users to input the time of day, on the day of the lock expiration that locked loan will turn to an Expired status.
  • Do you want to allow your originators to cancel locks? – If set to Yes, originators will have access to a Cancel icon when a loan is selected. Clicking the Cancel icon will generate a system email to the lock desk advising of the cancellation. It will also change the status to Canceled. If set to No, the loan originators will have access to a Delete icon when a loan is selected. Deleting a loan will not trigger any system-generated emails from Optimal Blue and will delete the loan out of the originator pipeline only.
  • Do you want to force Secondary users to validate the lock requested price hasn’t changed prior to accepting the lock? – If set to No, the Secondary user will not be required to click the Validate pricing button on the Secondary Options screen prior to accepting a lock.
  • Do you want lock extensions to expire on Saturdays? – If set to No, the lock extension will expire on the previous business day.
  • Do you want lock extensions to expire on Sundays? – If set to No, the lock extension will expire on the previous business day.
  • Do you want lock extensions to roll forward on holidays/weekends? – If set to No, the lock extension will expire based on the extension policy above.
  • Lock Extension Roll Backward – Do you want the cost for lock extensions to be calculated with the actual number of days the lock was extended? If No, the cost will be calculated using the number of lock extension days entered by the user. If Yes, make sure you have defined ranges to cover the number of roll back days if you use ranges to determine lock extension costs.- This option applies if your lock extension expirations are rolling back to the previous business day. When set to No, in the event the full number of requested extension days are not used (in the even a Saturday extension rolls back to expire on Friday for example), the full extension costs will be charged. If set to Yes, only the actual number of days the lock was extended for will be charged.
  • Lock Extension Roll Forward – Do you want the cost for lock extensions to be calculated with the actual number of days the lock was extended? If No, the cost will be calculated using the number of lock extension days entered by the user. If Yes, make sure you have defined ranges to cover the number of roll forward days if you use ranges to determine lock extension costs. – This option applies if your lock extension expirations are rolling forward on holidays and weekends. When set to No, in the event the full number of requested extension days exceed the number of days requested, only the number of days requested will be charged. If set to Yes, the actual number of days the lock was extended for will be charged.

Loan Officers

This section contains several important settings around loan officer functionality in Optimal Blue. Below are a few examples:

  • Do you want to show the desired lock period or the closest to the desired lock period? – If set to Yes, if the desired lock period entered by the loan originator on the search form is not available, the system will show the lock period closest to the requested lock period. When set to No, if the desired lock period is not available, the system will display N/A in the search results.
  • Do you want to show the desired rate or the closest to the desired rate? – If set to Yes, if the desired rate entered by the loan officer on the search form is not available, the system will show the rate closest to the requested rate. When set to No, if the desired rate is not available, the system will display N/A in the search results.
  • Do you want to show the desired price or the closest to the desired price? – If set to Yes, if the desired price entered by the loan officer on the search form is not available, the system will show the price closest to the requested price. When set to No, if the desired price is not available, the system will display N/A in the search results.
  • Do you want to display SRP adjustments to loan officers? – If set to No, the SRP adjustment will still be included in the loan officer price but will not be displayed to the loan officer in the pricing adjustments section of the search results nor will it be displayed on the printable lock form for loan officers. Note: If you set this to No but your originator users still see the adjustments, please verify the settings for the correct entity where applied and check your QM Policy settings that may override this setting.
  • Do you want to display the Last Updated Timestamp with each product in your search results? – If set to No, the time stamp for when investor product pricing was last updated in Optimal Blue will not be displayed.
  • Do you want to display the pre-calculated lock expiration dates in the search results? – If set to Yes, Optimal Blue will calculate and display the lock expiration date for each lock period in the product search results.
  • Do you want to display products that are in a pending update status in the search results? – If set to No, products in a Pending Update status will be hidden from the loan officers’ search results. Optimal Blue will place products in a pending update status when we are making guidelines changes on the behalf of the investor. Users cannot lock loans while in a pending update status.
  • Do you want to display investor guideline document links in the search results? – If set to Yes, an icon will display in the product search results that will provide access to all applicable investor guideline documents. Note that these documents can be replaced with your own company branded guidelines documents.
  • Do you want users to have the ability to export loans to a FNMA 3.2 file? – If set to Yes, loan originators will have access to a FNMA 3.2 icon on their loan’s status bar. When clicked, this will allow them to export a FNMA 3.2 file with borrower and loan details captured in Optimal Blue. 
  • Do you want to turn on Product Type filters? – Setting this to No will disable the product type filters for loan officers on the product search form under the Search Criteria section. The best practice is to enable this option and set the preference to Yes.

Secondary/Lock Desk

This section contains several important settings around Secondary/Lock Desk functionality in Optimal Blue. Below are a few examples:

  • Do you want registered loans to appear in the Secondary Queue? – If set to Yes, secondary users will see unlocked loans in a Registered status in their Secondary queue. This is set to No by default as the Secondary users are typically only concerned with loans after a lock has been requested. Secondary users can see all their originator loans, including those in a Registered status by default by accessing the Pipelines tab. If your LOS is integrated with Optimal Blue, this should be set to No.
  • Secondary users can see all originator pipelines – If set to Yes, Secondary users can access all of their originator pipelines on the Pipelines tab. The best practice is to set this to Yes.
  • What is the maximum number of days you want your Secondary Users to see upon logging in to the Secondary Queue? – This setting limits how far back Optimal Blue looks for loans to populate the first page of the Secondary Queue. For customers who have a high number of locks and investors, adjusting this may speed up the initial load time of the Secondary queue. This does not restrict access to older loans in any way.
  • Do you want to allow Secondary users to see products that are in a pending update status? – If set to No, products in a Pending Update status will be hidden from the Secondary users search results. Optimal Blue will place products in a pending update status when we are making guidelines changes on the behalf of the investor. Users cannot lock loans while in a pending update status. 
  •  Do you want to show Change Adjustments on the Secondary Best Ex screen so users can edit/add adjustments? – This adds the editable sell-side adjustments to the Best Ex screen. This also adds a Save Updates button to the screen so even if Secondary users won’t need to edit adjustments if they need to edit the sell-side price for another reason, this allows them to save the changes.  The best practice is to set this option to Yes.
  • Do you want to allow lock requests to be accepted if there is a pending price concession? This includes auto accepted lock requests. – Setting this to No will require users to approve any pending price concessions before the lock is accepted.

Compliance Checklist

This section contains several important settings around Optimal Blue’s Compliance Checklist functionality in Optimal Blue. Below are a few examples:

  • Do you want to show the compliance checklist to your users? – If set to Yes, the compliance checklist will be accessible after the loan officer selects a product from the search results. Note: Compliance Checklist questions must be configured on the Compliance Checklist admin screen in addition to enabling this setting for the Compliance Checklist to be visible to users.
  • Do you want your users to be able to skip the compliance checklist if it is not filled out? – If set to Yes, users will be able to submit incomplete Compliance Checklist answers.

Premium Content

This section contains several important settings regarding Premium Content features. Below are a few examples:

  • Do you want your originators to have access to Historical Ratesheets? – If set to Yes, your loan originators will have access to the Historical Ratesheets tab which, when accessed, will allow them to view your unadjusted investor rate sheets.
  • Lock Extension Price Validation Message – This allows Secondary users to customize the message that displays to loan officers when the lock extension validation fails. The lock extension validation is a check Optimal Blue runs in the background whenever a lock extension change is requested. If Optimal Blue detects a material change in loan parameters that will affect pricing or eligibility that has not been documented through a change request, the validation message will display.
  • Price Concession Price Validation Message – This allows Secondary users to customize the message that displays to loan officers when the price concession validation fails. The price concession validation is a check Optimal Blue runs in the background whenever a price concession change is requested. If Optimal Blue detects a material change in loan parameters that will affect pricing or eligibility that has not been documented through a change request, the validation message will display.

Branch/Broker Companies

This section contains several important settings regarding Branch/ Broker companies in Optimal Blue.  Below are a few examples:

  • Do you want to force Loan Officers to be tied to an approved broker company before registering a loan? – If set to Yes, loan officers will not be able to put loans in a Registered status unless they are assigned a branch that has been marked Approved on the branch/broker company admin screen. This is another way to granularly control when your originators can register loans.
  • Do you want to force Loan Officers to be tied to an approved broker company before locking a loan? – If set to Yes, loan officers will not be able to request locks unless they are assigned a branch that has been marked Approved on the branch/broker company admin screen. This is another way to granularly control when your originators can lock loans.

Email/System Display

This section contains several important settings regarding email and system display settings in Optimal Blue.  Below are a few examples:

  • Do you want your users to receive automatic emails from Optimal Blue? – Setting this to No will disable all system-generated emails in Optimal Blue. This includes lock and change request emails.
  • Do you want automatic emails to only be sent from donotreply@optimalblue.com. Selecting Yes will significantly improve the success rate of emails not being caught by spam filters. – If you have issues not receiving Optimal Blue emails, setting this to Yes will often correct the issue.
  • What sender email address should we use in the event an email address is not setup for a user? – This setting allows you to specify your own default entity sender address. 
  • What sender email address should we use to distribute Lock Accept/Deny emails? – This setting allows you to specify the lock accept and deny sender email address. 
  • What company name should display to your users when an error occurs? – This setting allows you to specify who your users are to contact in the event a system error occurs. Users should always input their companies name here.
  • Do you want to display Lock Expiration visual cues in the LO Pipelines? – If set to Yes, when a lock turns to an expired status, the lock expiration date text in the originator’s pipeline will turn red if the lock expiration date header is displayed. Note, that if using Lock Exp. Alerts, the text will turn orange upon hitting the first threshold date.
  • Do you want to display Lock Expiration visual cues in the Secondary Queue?-  If set to Yes, when a lock turns to an expired status, the lock expiration date text in the Secondary Queue will turn red lock expiration date header is displayed. Note, that if using Lock Exp. Alerts, the text will turn orange upon hitting the first threshold date.
  • What time zone does this entity operate out of? This setting allows users to specify what time zone the entity operates out of. Note that some date fields in Optimal Blue will always display CST.

Integration Options

This section contains several important settings regarding integrations in Optimal Blue.  Below are a few examples:

  • Logout URL (* MUST INCLUDE http://) – Some LOS integrations require Optimal Blue specify the logout URL. Users should NOT edit this field as it could result in your LOS integration not working properly.
  • Integration URL (* MUST INCLUDE http://) – Some LOS integrations require Optimal Blue specify an integration URL. Users should NOT edit this field as it could result in your LOS integration not working properly.
  • Do you want to send the SRP values to your integrated system? – If set to Yes, Optimal Blue will push loan SRP values back to your LOS.
  • Do you want to show a link to MBSQuoteline in the header of your screen? -This setting allows users to enable a login or activation link with a free trial to MBSQuoteline. MBSQuoteline delivers real-time mortgage backed securities prices live. Get up-to-the-minute mortgage market news and analysis as events occur, and ongoing mortgage rate trends, all sent straight to your computer, mobile device, tablet or email.
  • If a loan is submitted more than once to Optimal Blue with different users, would you prefer the loan be priced as the new loan officer user (instead of the original user)? – For customers who integrate their LOS with Optimal Blue, this setting controls whether the new loan officer sees their pricing or the original loan officers pricing when accessing Optimal Blue from their LOS.
  • If a loan is submitted more than once to Optimal Blue with different users, would you prefer the loan be priced as the new branch manager user (instead of the original user)? – For customers who integrate their LOS with Optimal Blue, this setting controls whether the branch manager sees their pricing or the original loan officers pricing when accessing Optimal Blue from their LOS.
  • If a loan is submitted more than once to Optimal Blue with different users, would you prefer the loan be priced as the new processor user (instead of the original user)? – For customers who integrate their LOS with Optimal Blue, this setting controls whether the processor sees their pricing or the original loan officers pricing when accessing Optimal Blue from their LOS.
  • *Encompass Select – How do you want to map FHA Streamline Refi to Encompass? – This option allows Optimal Blue users to decide how all of their Optimal Blue FHA Streamline products will be pushed back to the Encompass file. Encompass currently recognizes wither FHA Streamline with Appraisal or Streamline without Appraisal.
  • *Encompass Select – Do you want to push the printable lock form to Encompass? – Users can choose to Never update their lock commitment file in the eFolder in Encompass with Optimal Blues’ printable lock form, they can choose to Always update their lock commitment in Encompass, including after approved Change Requests, or users can choose to Only Send the Update at the Lock Accept.


*There are several important integrations settings Encompass integrated customers to review with Client Services. 

  • Do you want to show a link to MC RateWatch in the header of your screen? –  Setting this to Yes will enable a link to MC RateWatch users header section. When users click the link, they will be directed to the MC RateWatch sign up page where they can sign up for market updates complimentary of Optimal Blue.

QM Options

This section contains an important setting around QM qualifications.

  • Do you qualify as a small creditor for the purpose of QM? – This allows admin users to designate an entity as a small creditor for the purpose of QM.  This setting can have a significant impact on QM behavior in Optimal Blue. 

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