vTip #25 - Filtering your LOS database by Loan Officer:

Why use this filtering feature?

Most mortgage offices use a central folder or area on their computer or networks to place all borrower or prospect file data for the entire office. These files are often generated and accessed by several loan officers and their processors.

InterActive vForms will allow you or your office to set defaults and filtering capabilities so loan officers will only access borrower or prospect files that pertain to them. This will allow loan officers or their processors to concentrate on their files when using the available database management tools and when marketing their clients for new business and referrals.

To configure and use InterActive vForms while filtering LOS files by loan officer, follow these steps:

STEP ONE: Creating and updating your employee records in InterActive vForms:

  1. Open vForms.
  2. Click on Tools, Options.
  3. Select the Employee Tab.
  4. To add new employees, click on the Add button.
  5. A new employee line will appear on the screen. Click into the name field and type the name of your new employee or loan officer. Make sure the loan officer name is identical to how it is entered into your LOS system (i.e. John Smith in vForms should be John Smith in your LOS system as the loan officer or rep). InterActive vForms will search your LOS data files for this name and cross reference vForms with your data files in your LOS system.
  6. Note the "ME" box next to the employee names. When this box is checked, a temporary logo will appear in all of your InterActive vForms. The "ME" box will also be the reference key for populating your InterActive vForms with your personal information. This employee box is also used in the RTF documents as "My_...." to customize your email messages.
  7. Click on "OK" and your vForms Options/Settings Screen will be closed.

STEP TWO: Filtering your LOS data by loan rep after you have created your employee records:

  1. Click on the "Employee"" icon on the front screen of vForms.
  2. All employees that you have entered into your employee records above will appear on your screen. Each employee will also have a "Rep" box next to their name.
  3. To filter your database borrowers or prospects files by loan officer, simply click on the "Rep" box next to the loan officer's name.
  4. Notice the "Employee" icon will now be colored RED signifying you are filtering borrowers or contacts LOS files by loan officer.
  5. Now click on your "Borrowers" or "Prospects" icon to load your LOS data files into InterActive vForms to be filtered. vForms will search your records and display only the files that belong to that loan officer.  (WARNING: IF NO FILES ARE LOADED, CHECK THE LOAN OFFICER NAME IN vFORMS AND COMPARE THAT TO HOW THIS LOAN OFFICER IS ENTERED IN YOUR LOS. IF THE NAMES ARE NOT IDENTICAL, vFORMS WILL NOT SELECT THE APPROPRIATE FILES).

STEP THREE: Troubleshooting options if no names are displayed:

  1. Check the loan officer name in your LOS system. Open your LOS system and check how the loan officer name has been entered.
  2. If different, follow step one above and change the employee name to reflect the correct spelling. Go to step two again and follow the outlined procedures.
  3. Review your LOS "Rep" field with InterActive vForms:
  4. Click on the "Employee" icon and uncheck the "Rep" box next to the loan officer name. Click on your "Borrowers" or "Prospects" icon again and load your LOS data into the vForms screen (YOU WILL NOTICE YOUR EMPLOYEE ICON WILL NO LONGER BE SHOWN IN RED, INDICATING THE FILTERING TOOL HAS BEEN TURNED OFF).
  5. Right click your mouse on one of the contacts under the "Name" column.
  6. Left click on "Customize View" and the "Drag Items To/From Screen" will appear.
  7. Drag the "Rep" field onto your computer screen. To do this, left click and hold your mouse button down on the "Rep" line and drag this to the top of the screen until you see two red arrows appear. Release your mouse and the "Rep" field will appear on the same horizontal line as the "Name" field is located.
  8. Right click your mouse on any contact under the "Name" field and click on "Save View".
  9. All borrower or contact names will now show the loan officer or "rep" associated with this file. Check the spelling of your loan officer name and repeat Step One above.

If you have any questions, or need any assistance, please do not hesitate to call or email us at the contact numbers or email address below.