Metro 2 account status code 97: charge-off
The lender has written off the unpaid balance as a loss on its books. That's an accounting step: the debt is still legally owed, and the lender or a debt buyer can still collect it. The balance can keep reporting until it's paid, settled or sold.
How it shows on your report
"Charged off," "Charge-off" or "Written off," often with CO or CH in the grid depending on the bureau's key.
How it affects your score
One of the most serious negatives on a report.
What to check
If the debt was sold to a collector, the lender's tradeline should show a $0 balance. Payments made after the charge-off should lower the reported balance. The seven-year clock runs from 180 days after the delinquency began, so the charge-off date or a sale shouldn't restart it.
If this code is wrong on your report
- Metro 2 explained: the data format behind your credit reportHow lenders send coded data to the bureaus, and how disputes travel back to them.
- How to dispute a credit report error, step by stepA step-by-step guide to disputing credit report errors with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion: online vs. mail, what to include, and how to keep proof.
- Letter builderWrite dispute, goodwill, validation and identity theft letters. Free, printed by you, sent by you.
Glossary: account status code, Metro 2
Sources
- Metro 2 Account Status Codes (Bureau Relay, formerly metro2.switchlabs.dev)
- Account Status Codes (The Mortgage Office help center)
- Handling Metro II Account Statuses (Oracle Financial Services Lending and Leasing documentation)
- Metro 2 Base Segment (Galileo, SoFi Technology Platform docs)
- 15 U.S.C. 1681c: Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports
These explanations are ScoreTuner's plain-English summaries. The official specification is the CDIA Credit Reporting Resource Guide, which is copyrighted and not reproduced here. This is education, not legal advice.