Metro 2 ECOA Code 7: Maker (Business Account With a Personal Guarantee)

Specification

Code	7
Meaning	Maker (Business Account With a Personal Guarantee)
Field	ECOA Code (Field 10)
Record	Base Segment
Length / position	1 char · 63–63
Category	Commercial and Guaranteed Business Credit
CRRG reference	CRRG ECOA Code table (Base Segment)

Code 7 exists for the hybrid case: the credit is business credit, but a named individual personally stands behind it, so the individual's file legitimately carries the tradeline.
The distinguishing feature versus code 5 is which side of the obligation the person sits on. A code 7 maker is the person who executed the business obligation, not a third party guaranteeing someone else's note.
Does not turn the account into consumer credit. The underlying obligation stays commercial, which is why code W exists as the pure-commercial designator for accounts reported without that personal-guarantee framing.
Does not shield the individual from the performance history. A business default reported under code 7 shows on the maker's consumer file with the same delinquency arithmetic as any other tradeline.

1A community bank books a small-business equipment loan to an LLC and takes the owner's unlimited personal guarantee, then furnishes the tradeline against the owner.
2A commercial card issuer opens a business card where the owner signed personally and remains liable if the business does not pay.
3An equipment lessor finances a work vehicle for a two-person contracting business with the principal signing personally on the lease.
4A merchant-services lender extends a working-capital advance to a sole proprietorship where the proprietor is personally on the note.

Use code 7 only where a real personal guarantee exists. Without one, a purely commercial obligation should not be furnished against an individual consumer file.
Keep the account's Portfolio Type and Account Type consistent with the commercial nature of the obligation rather than mapping it to a consumer product just because a person is liable.
If a second individual also guaranteed the obligation, report that person in their own associated-consumer segment with the designator that matches how they signed.
Do not use code 7 as a generic "business" flag. Code W is the commercial designator when the personal-maker framing does not apply.

A file can be structurally valid and still be wrong. These are the cross-field conditions ECOA Code 7 has to satisfy.

Each consumer on the record carries their own ECOA code, so a second personal guarantor appears in a J1 or J2 segment with their own designator rather than sharing the Base Segment's code 7.
Portfolio Type and Account Type should describe the commercial obligation. A code 7 designator sitting on a product type that only exists in consumer lending is a mismatch worth investigating before you file.
Delinquency fields behave normally: a non-current Payment Rating still requires a Date of First Delinquency, and Amount Past Due still has to reconcile with the rating.
Code 7 and code W are alternatives, not companions. Decide whether the record is being furnished because of the personal guarantee (7) or as a commercial account (W), and report one designator.