Metro 2 Credit Reporting Status Codes: Meanings, Disputes, and Removal

Metro 2 status codes are the two-character labels your lenders attach to each account every month when they report it to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The code tells the bureau whether the account is current, how many days late it is, or whether it ended in a charge-off, repossession, foreclosure, or settlement. Credit scoring models read these codes directly, so one wrong entry can cost you real points and real money. Below is what each of the common codes means, and what to do if the one on your file doesn’t match reality.

What the Status Code Field Actually Does

Metro 2 is the standardized reporting format every furnisher uses to send account data to the three bureaus.¹ Within a Metro 2 record, the account status code is the headline field. It sits alongside your balance, credit limit, payment amount, and a 24-month payment history profile, and it answers one question: as of this reporting cycle, what is the state of this account?

Furnishers refresh the field monthly. The code on your file today may differ from last month if anything about the account changed, which is why stale codes are such a common source of credit report errors.

Codes That Mean the Account Is in Good Shape

Two codes cover the clean cases:

Code 11 — Current. Payments are on schedule. This is the code you want on every open account.²
Code 13 — Paid or closed, zero balance. The account is finished and nothing is owed.²

Several other codes also mean “paid in full,” but they carry a history that future lenders will see:

Code 61 — Paid in full after a voluntary surrender of collateral.²
Code 62 — Paid in full on an account that had been sent to collections or involved an insurance or government claim.
Code 63 — Paid in full after a repossession.
Code 64 — Paid in full on an account previously charged off.
Code 65 — Paid in full after foreclosure proceedings had started.

Code 13 and Code 63 both mean your balance is zero, but a lender reading your file will treat them very differently. Paying off a repossessed car loan clears the debt; it does not clear the history.

Delinquency Codes: How Many Days Behind

Once you miss a payment, the status code steps through a ladder tied to how far behind you’ve fallen:

Code 71 — 30 to 59 days past due²
Code 78 — 60 to 89 days past due
Code 80 — 90 to 119 days past due
Code 82 — 120 to 149 days past due
Code 83 — 150 to 179 days past due
Code 84 — 180 or more days past due

The move from Code 11 to Code 71 is usually the single most damaging event on a credit report. Each additional 30-day step still hurts, but the first late month does the heaviest scoring damage. A Code 80 reads as a pattern rather than a slip, which is why scoring models weigh it more heavily than a Code 71.

When you catch up, the furnisher should return the status code to 11 on the next cycle. The late entries stay in the 24-month payment history profile, but the status code is supposed to reflect where the account stands right now. A stale delinquency code on an account you’ve already brought current is one of the most frequent reporting errors.

Default, Collection, and Charge-Off Codes

Beyond simple late payments, a separate group of codes handles accounts that have broken down:

Code 93 — Seriously past due or assigned to collections, either internal or an outside agency.
Code 95 — Voluntary surrender of collateral on a defaulted account where a balance may still be owed.
Code 96 — Collateral repossessed by the creditor, with a possible remaining balance.
Code 97 — Unpaid balance reported as a loss. This is the charge-off code.²

Code 97 is the one people misread most often. A charge-off does not forgive the debt. It means the original creditor wrote the balance off as a loss on its own books, typically after about 180 days of non-payment. You still owe the money, it can still be collected, and the entry sits on your credit report as one of the most severe negatives possible.

Code 95 (voluntary surrender) is slightly less damaging in practice than Code 96 (repossession), though both signal serious default. If you later pay the remaining balance after a repossession, the code becomes 63 rather than returning to 11 or 13.

Foreclosure and Mortgage Default Codes

Mortgage defaults have their own set:

Code 88 — A claim was filed with the government for the insured portion of a defaulted loan, typically on FHA-insured or VA-guaranteed mortgages.
Code 89 — Deed in lieu of foreclosure. The borrower transferred the property to the lender instead of going through formal foreclosure.³
Code 94 — Foreclosure completed, with the lender selling the collateral to settle the defaulted mortgage.

Code 89 and Code 94 are both severe negatives, but the deed-in-lieu route avoids the public record of a foreclosure proceeding and can allow faster credit recovery. If you’re negotiating with a servicer, ask which code they will report. A Code 65 (paid in full, foreclosure started) tells a very different story than a Code 94 (foreclosure completed).

Settlements and the Special Comment Field

If you settle a debt for less than the full balance, the status code alone will not capture that. Metro 2 uses a separate field called Special Comment Codes to add context. Two show up most often:

AU — Account paid for less than the full balance. The account will usually carry Code 13 and a zero balance, with the AU comment flagging that a settlement happened.
AX — Account paid in full for the entire balance owed.

A Code 13 with an AU comment tells future lenders you resolved the debt at a discount. A Code 13 with an AX comment says you paid every dollar. When you negotiate a settlement, ask what special comment the creditor plans to report. Some will agree to report “paid in full”; many will not.

Codes That Delete an Account Entirely

Two alpha codes remove an account from the bureau’s database rather than updating it:

DA — Delete account. Used when an account was reported in error, when a court orders removal, or when the record should not have been on your file at all.
DF — Delete account, confirmed fraud. Used after a fraud investigation confirms the account was opened through identity theft or other fraud.³

If you’re an identity theft victim and a fraudulent account still appears on your report after the furnisher has confirmed the fraud, the furnisher should be reporting DF. If they are not, that is a solid basis for a dispute.

How Long a Negative Code Can Stay

The Fair Credit Reporting Act caps how long adverse information stays in your file. Most negatives drop off after seven years; bankruptcies can stay up to ten.⁴

The seven-year clock does not start when you pay or settle. For charge-offs and collections, it starts 180 days after the delinquency that led to the default began. The original missed payment sets the clock; a collection agency buying the debt later cannot restart it. The time limits do not apply to credit transactions expected to involve $150,000 or more, life insurance with a face amount of $150,000 or more, or employment screening for positions paying $75,000 or more a year.⁴ For ordinary credit decisions, the seven- and ten-year caps hold.

Disputing a Wrong Code

If you find a status code that does not match what actually happened on the account, you have two paths, and the smart move is to use both.

Start by filing a dispute with each credit bureau that is showing the error. Identify the account, explain what is wrong, and attach documentation: payment confirmations, settlement letters, account statements. The bureau has 30 days to investigate.⁵ During that window, the bureau forwards your dispute to the furnisher, who must investigate and respond. If the furnisher cannot verify the code or finds it wrong, the bureau must correct or delete it.⁶

You can also dispute directly with the furnisher. On a direct dispute, the company must investigate and, if the information is wrong, notify all three bureaus to update the record.⁶ Filing with both the bureau and the furnisher at once applies pressure from both sides. Keep every letter and every response; if the issue has to be escalated, that paper trail is your case.

If the investigation does not fix the problem, you can ask the bureau to attach a brief statement of dispute to your file, which will show up on future pulls. You can also file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which oversees furnisher compliance.

Why Going Through the Bureau Matters Legally

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires furnishers not to report information they know or have reasonable cause to believe is inaccurate, and to correct previously reported errors promptly.⁷ Furnishers also have to maintain reasonable policies to ensure the accuracy of what they report.⁸

Here is the piece that trips consumers up. You generally cannot sue a furnisher for the basic duty to report accurately; that part of the FCRA is enforced by federal agencies like the CFPB and FTC. A private lawsuit becomes available only after you dispute through a credit bureau. Once the bureau forwards your dispute, the furnisher must investigate, weigh the evidence, and correct anything inaccurate. If the furnisher ignores that duty or keeps reporting the wrong code after the bureau-routed dispute, you can sue for damages under the FCRA.⁷

A phone call complaining about a wrong code does not trigger the furnisher’s investigation duties under the section that gives you a right to sue. The bureau-routed dispute does. That is the step that turns a frustrating error into an enforceable claim.

1
Consumer Data Industry Association. Metro 2 Format for Credit Reporting
2
Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Appendix 1 – Credit Bureau Report Key Account Status Codes
3
Oracle Help Center. Appendix – Handling Metro II Account Statuses
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy
6
Federal Trade Commission. Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681s-2 – Responsibilities of Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies
8
Federal Trade Commission. Consumer Reports – What Information Furnishers Need to Know