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Metro 2 Account Reporting Guidelines
Automated Data Reporting
INDUSTRY REPORTING STANDARDS
An industry standard for reporting consumer accounts will ensure the integrity and consistency of
the credit information being reported.
• All accounts must be reported a minimum of once per month.
• A final Account Status Code must be reported when the accounts are ultimately paid or closed
with a zero balance.
• If reporting by cycles, all accounts must be reported at the close of each cycle.
• When reporting delinquent accounts, the “Industry Standard for Reporting Account Delinquency”
must be followed.
INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR REPORTING ACCOUNT DELINQUENCY
The “clock” for a 30-day delinquency starts 30 days after the due date, as opposed to the billing
date.
The following example tracks an account history for four months, specifying the Metro 2® Account
Status Code that should be reported. The Due Date for this example is the
15th of each month.
ACCOUNTS INCLUDED IN BANKRUPTCY
Question: Is there a preferred method of reporting when accounts are completely or partially reaffirmed in bankruptcy?
Answer: For accounts that are completely reaffirmed in bankruptcy, report the appropriate Account Status (Field 17A) and the Consumer Information Indicator R, which states “Reaffirmation of Debt”. The Consumer Information Indicator (Base Segment Field 38 and J1/J2 Segment Field 11) should be reported for each consumer who was involved in the bankruptcy. For accounts that are partially reaffirmed in bankruptcy, report a separate tradeline with a new Account Number for the portion of the account that is in repayment. For this new tradeline, report the Consumer Information Indicator R for each affected consumer, which states “Reaffirmation of Debt”, plus the appropriate Account Status. For that portion of the original tradeline which is still included in bankruptcy, report the appropriate Account Status (Field 17A), the appropriate Consumer Information Indicator (Base Segment Field 38 and J1/J2 Segment Field 11), and adjust the Current Balance (Field 21) accordingly.
Question: How should an account be reported when all borrowers associated to the account filed Bankruptcy Chapter 7, 11 or 12?
Answer: Report the account according to the following guidelines:
Banking / Savings & Loan / Credit Union – Installment Loan & Line of Credit accounts
Guidelines below provide specific values for Banking / Savings & Loan / Credit Union – Installment Loan & Line of Credit accounts. In addition to these specific values all other applicable Metro 2 fields should be reported.
Credit Cards (non-Retail Cards)
While all applicable fields within the Metro 2® Format should be reported, these guidelines provide specific values that apply to Credit Cards.
Field
Loan Finance Companies
While all applicable fields within the Metro 2® Format should be reported, these guidelines provide specific values that apply to Loan Finance companies’ accounts.
Field
Mortgage Lending
While all applicable fields within the Metro 2® Format should be reported, these guidelines provide specific values that apply to Mortgage lending.
Third Party Collection Agencies/Debt Buyers
A Debt Buyer is a company or individual who purchases accounts with the intent of collecting debts owed. A Third Party Collection Agency is a company or individual who specializes in collecting outstanding debts for other businesses or individuals.
Utility Companies
While all applicable fields within the Metro 2® Format should be reported, these guidelines provide specific values that apply to Utility
Companies’ accounts.
Student Loan Reporters – Federal Loans
Guidelines below provide specific values for Student Loan Reporters – Federal Loans. In addition to these specific values all other applicable Metro 2 fields should be reported.
Consumer Dispute Process
The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees consumers the right to dispute information that has been previously reported to consumer reporting agencies.
The consumer may initiate his or her dispute directly with a consumer reporting agency, one of the affiliates of that repository, or a reseller of consumer reports. Regardless of the source at which the dispute originates, the data furnisher must respond. (See Federal Trade Commission interpretation letter of July 1999 http://www.ftc.gov/os/1999/9908/faresletterfinal.htm).
The law also describes these duties of data furnisher's specific to the consumer dispute process:
Conduct an investigation with respect to the disputed information.
Review all relevant information provided by the consumer reporting agency.
Report the results of the investigation to the consumer reporting agency.
If the investigation finds that the information is incomplete or inaccurate, report those results to all other consumer reporting agencies to which the data provider furnished the information.
The law also mandates a deadline for the completion of the investigation, review, and reporting of the investigation results. This process shall be completed within a 30-calendar day period that begins when the consumer contacts the consumer reporting agency.
AUTOMATED CONSUMER DISPUTE VERIFICATION (ACDV)
In compliance with FCRA section 611 (a) (5) (D), the consumer credit reporting industry maintains an automated dispute resolution system. This system, called e-OSCAR-web, is available for use by all data furnisher's.
ACDV WORKFLOW
Each consumer reporting agency and data furnisher has its own access to e-OSCAR-web.
When a consumer contacts a consumer reporting agency with a dispute, the agency transmits the disputed information into e-OSCAR. The data furnisher accesses e-OSCAR and retrieves the disputed data.
The data furnisher researches the disputed account, and transmits a response back to the originating consumer reporting agency.. If the information is verified as correctly reported, the response goes only to the originating consumer reporting agency. If the information is modified or deleted, e-OSCAR automatically sends a response to the originating consumer reporting agency and sends copies to any other consumer reporting agencies with which the data furnisher has registered in e-OSCAR.
The consumer reporting agencies retrieve responses, update the credit files accordingly and respond back to the consumers.
The originating consumer reporting agency also notifies the data furnisher of any modifications or deletions as a result of the dispute reinvestigation.
To complete the process, when a change has been made, data furnisher's must also update their internal records to avoid re-reporting incorrect information.
FEATURES OF ACDV
Automated Carbon Copies - If you modified or deleted an account in response to a consumer reporting agency-generated consumer dispute, e-OSCAR will send copies of the dispute and response to each of the consumer reporting agencies with which you have registered an affiliation in e-OSCAR. These copies help to pre-empt future disputes, thus reducing your costs. Consumer credit data will be accurate at all the agencies with which you are registered, which will help to improve customer satisfaction.
Automatic Notification - The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the originating consumer reporting agency to notify the data furnisher of any modifications or deletions as a result of the dispute reinvestigation. e-OSCAR provides the capability to meet this requirement.
No Illogical Conditions - When a consumer reporting agency sends out an "I've never been late" dispute, they need your assistance in verifying the consumer's account information. The e-OSCAR system has built-in edits to prevent illogical responses.
Other benefits include easy tracking of consumer disputes in progress or completed and easy access to a broad range of user reports.