Metro 2 Account Type Code 0C: Debt-Buyer Account

Specification

Code	0C
Meaning	Debt-Buyer Account
Field	Account Type (Field 15)
Record	Base Segment
Length / position	2 chars · 84–85
Category	Open Accounts
CRRG reference	CRRG Exhibits 1 & 2 (Account Type Codes)

Identifies who is reporting and on what basis: a purchaser of the debt, not the entity that extended the credit.
Reported as Portfolio Type O (Open), which reflects that the full purchased balance is due rather than amortizing on a schedule.
Does NOT cover a collection agency working an account on contingency for the original creditor. An agency that does not own the debt reports under the collection account type, not 0C.
Does NOT extend the FCRA reporting period. The Date of First Delinquency travels with the debt from the original creditor and governs when the tradeline must age off, regardless of when it was purchased.
The original creditor's tradeline and the debt buyer's tradeline coexist by design: the seller reports Account Status 05 with a zero balance, the buyer reports the purchased obligation.

1A debt buyer purchases a portfolio of charged-off bankcard receivables and furnishes each account under its own name.
2A purchaser of charged-off telecommunications receivables reports the accounts it acquired at portfolio close.
3A debt buyer that resells part of a portfolio reports its accounts as sold and stops reporting a balance.
4A buyer reports an account where the consumer entered a payment plan after purchase, updating the balance monthly.
5A buyer reports an account it acquired twice removed, naming the true original creditor rather than the intermediate seller in the K1 segment.

Carry forward the Date of First Delinquency from the original creditor without change. Re-aging a purchased debt is the single most serious error in this account type.
Populate the K1 segment with the original creditor's name so the consumer can recognise the debt they are being asked about.
Populate the K2 segment with the entity you purchased from when that entity is not the original creditor.
Report the purchased balance owed by the consumer, not the price you paid for the receivable.
When you resell or return the account, report it as sold with a zero balance rather than simply dropping it from the file.

A file can be structurally valid and still be wrong. These are the cross-field conditions Account Type Code 0C has to satisfy.

Portfolio Type must be O (Open). Open accounts are due in full rather than amortizing, so Terms Duration is reported as a single period rather than a multi-year month count and the balance does not step down on a schedule.
Because the account is Open, Credit Limit must be zero-filled. A debt-buyer tradeline is not a line of credit.
Date of First Delinquency is mandatory and must equal the value from the original creditor. It, not the purchase date, controls the seven-year window.
The K1 segment (Original Creditor Name) is effectively required. The K2 segment (Purchased From) is required when you bought from someone other than the original creditor.
Date Opened should reflect the original account's opening, not the portfolio purchase date. The purchase date belongs in the K2 segment's date field.
When you sell the account on, report Account Status 05 with a zero Current Balance and zero Amount Past Due.