Many states require that loan officers (LOs) display their designated branch address on social media profiles and websites where an address field is available. The Branch Address Profile Flag in SocialShield helps compliance teams automatically monitor whether the correct address is listed, reducing the manual effort of reviewing each profile individually. This article explains how the flags work, which platforms it applies to, and how to interpret results—including guidance on understanding potential false positives.

The Branch Address Profile Flag is a SocialShield policy flag compares the address listed on a monitored social media profile against the branch address(es) associated with the LO’s NMLS record on their Contact Card, and raises a flag when there is a discrepancy or when an address is missing or incomplete. The two Flags are:

Not all social media platforms have a dedicated, structured address field. The Branch Address flag is only applied to platforms where an address field is regularly available and populated. The following platforms are currently supported:

The branch address used for comparison is pulled from the LO’s NMLS licensee record as displayed on their Contact Card in SocialShield. If an LO is associated with multiple branches, the flag checks whether the address listed on the social profile matches the branch address used for comparison is pulled from the LO’s NMLS licensee record. If an LO is associated with multiple branches, the flag checks whether the address listed on the social profile matches any one of the associated branch addresses. A match against any valid branch address will prevent the flag from triggering.

A Branch Address Profile Flag is raised when one of the following conditions is detected on a supported platform:

• The address listed on the profile does not match any branch address on file

• No address is listed on the profile (missing address)

• The address listed is incomplete (e.g., missing city, state, or ZIP code)

Because there is no universal standard for how addresses are formatted, the same physical address can appear in many different ways across social media profiles. ActiveComply’s matching logic is designed to accommodate common variations, but it is important to understand its scope so that compliance teams can accurately interpret flagged results.

Real-world address entries frequently differ from the NMLS record due to variations such as:

• Abbreviated street type vs. full word (e.g., “Rd.” vs. “Road”, “St.” vs. “Street”)

• Presence or absence of punctuation (e.g., commas, periods, pound signs)

• Extra or missing spaces within the address string

• Full state name vs. abbreviation (e.g., “California” vs. “CA”)

• Capitalization differences (e.g., “North Main Street” vs. “north main street”)

• Suite or unit number formatting (e.g., “Ste 100” vs. “Suite 100” vs. “#100”)

These variations are common and do not necessarily represent a compliance issue. The guidance below explains how ActiveComply’s fuzzy matching logic handles them.

To reduce the number of false positives caused by minor formatting differences, ActiveComply applies fuzzy matching logic to the address comparison. The tolerance thresholds are as follows:

When reviewing a Branch Address flag, consider the following questions:

• Is the flagged difference purely formatting (e.g., “Road” vs. “Rd.”, a missing comma, abbreviated state)? If so, this is likely a false positive and can be noted or dismissed accordingly.

• Is the street name or city genuinely different? This may indicate the LO is displaying an outdated or incorrect address and warrants follow-up.

• Is no address listed at all? This is a clear compliance gap on platforms where an address is required.

• Is the LO licensed under multiple branches? Confirm that the address shown on the profile corresponds to at least one active branch address in NMLS.

SocialShield displays address fields directly on Profile Cards for supported platforms. When an address is available from the platform’s API, it will appear in the dedicated Address section of the Profile Card.

To locate this information:

• Navigate to SocialShield in your ActiveComply account

• Open the Profile Card for the Contact

• Scroll to the Address section to view the address currently listed on the profile

• If a Branch Address flag is active, it will appear in the Flags section of the same Profile Card

The most common reason is a formatting difference that exceeds the system’s tolerance threshold. For example, if the NMLS record shows “100 Commerce Road” but the social profile lists “100 Commerce Rd.”, the difference of more than 2 characters in the Street component may cause a flag. Review the actual text of both addresses side by side to determine whether the flag represents a genuine issue or a formatting variation.

The system checks the listed address against all branch addresses associated with the LO in NMLS. If the profile address matches any one of the LO’s valid branch addresses within the tolerance thresholds, the flag will not be raised.

No. This flag is limited to dedicated, structured address fields on supported platforms. Addresses that appear only in a bio or description field are not currently evaluated by this flag.

At this time, the Branch Address flag is configured at the organizational policy level and applies to all supported platforms when enabled. Contact ActiveComply Support if you need more granular control.

If you have questions about Branch Address flags or need assistance reviewing flagged profiles, please contact ActiveComply Support through the Help Center or [email protected].