Metro 2 Creditor Classification 04: Government

Specification

Code	04
Meaning	Government
Field	K1 Creditor Classification (Field K1-4)
Record	K1 Segment (Original Creditor Name)
Length / position	2 chars · 33–34
Category	Government and Education
CRRG reference	CRRG Creditor Classification code table (K1 Segment)

Covers agency receivables, court-ordered obligations, municipal fees and fines placed for collection, tax-adjacent civil debts, and overpayment recoveries pursued by a public body.
The distinguishing test is whether the entity that became owed the money is a governmental unit, not whether the debt is enforced by one.
A federal student loan is educational in character but originates under a government programme. Where the obligation is a student loan, 07 (Educational) is the more specific and more useful classification; reserve 04 for non-education government receivables.
Does NOT mean the debt is a tax lien or judgment as a public record. Public records are a separate reporting concept and are not furnished as tradelines through this field.
Does not imply special collection powers. Whatever offset or garnishment authority a public creditor holds is a matter of law outside the format.
This is the only code in the set where both in-repo sources agree on the meaning.

1A collection agency reports a placed balance for unpaid municipal utility fees owed to a city-owned service.
2A debt buyer or contracted recovery vendor furnishes court-ordered fee balances placed by a county clerk.
3A state agency's contracted collector reports an unemployment-benefit overpayment being recovered from the consumer.
4A recovery vendor for a public transit authority reports unpaid citation balances routed through a collections contract.
5A child-support enforcement office's reporting agent furnishes an arrears balance under the child-support account type.

Name the agency on the K1 in a form the consumer would recognise, such as the department or authority name rather than an internal contract code.
Choose 07 over 04 for student-loan obligations, even where a government programme guaranteed or held the loan, because the more specific classification is more accurate to the consumer.
Do not use 04 merely because a court is now involved in enforcing an ordinary private debt. Enforcement venue does not change the original creditor's industry.
Verify with each bureau whether the specific public receivable is eligible for tradeline reporting at all before furnishing it.

A file can be structurally valid and still be wrong. These are the cross-field conditions Creditor Classification 04 has to satisfy.

Report only where a K1 segment is present, which for public receivables usually means a contracted collection agency, recovery vendor, or collection attorney is the furnisher.
Pairs with Base Segment Account Type 93 (Child Support) for support arrears, and with 48 (Collection Agency/Attorney Account) for agency-placed public debts generally.
Where a city-owned or authority-owned utility is the creditor, choose between 04 and 10 (Utilities) by what the receivable is: an unpaid utility service bill is a utility receivable, so 10 with Account Type 92 (Utility Open Account) is usually the better fit even when the provider is municipal.
Child-support arrears reporting has its own status and balance conventions. The classification code does not override them, and Date of First Delinquency handling for arrears follows the support-order timeline, not the placement date.
A K2 (Purchased From / Sold To) segment is unusual here, because most government receivables are placed for collection rather than sold. If a K2 is present, confirm the sale actually occurred.