Metro 2 ECOA Code X: Deceased

Specification

Code	X
Meaning	Deceased
Field	ECOA Code (Field 10)
Record	Base Segment
Length / position	1 char · 63–63
Category	Relationship Lifecycle Instructions
CRRG reference	CRRG ECOA Code table (Base Segment)

Code X marks one consumer as deceased. On a joint account it applies to the consumer whose segment carries it, and the surviving obligor keeps their own designator.
It says nothing about the balance. A deceased designator does not zero the Current Balance, does not close the account, and does not forgive the obligation, which may still be pursued against an estate or a surviving joint obligor.
It is not a deletion instruction. Removing a consumer from the tradeline is code Z, and deleting the entire tradeline is Account Status DA.
The metro2-guide Appendix F table in this repository labels this code "Shared"; that label is contradicted by both the field library and the runtime import normalizer, which map deceased to this code, and is treated here as a defect.
The 2026 CRRG revision clarified reporting expectations for ECOA X. Only that fact is asserted here, because the revision's exact wording is not reproduced in any in-repo source. Confirm the current language in your own copy of the 2026 CRRG before changing how your extract populates this code.

1A card issuer receives a death certificate for the primary cardholder on an individual account and updates the designator for that consumer.
2A mortgage servicer learns that one of two joint borrowers has died and marks only that borrower's designator while the surviving borrower continues reporting normally.
3A credit union is notified through a deceased-suppression file that a member on an installment loan has died.
4A servicer confirms a death reported by a family member and reconciles the ECOA designator with the deceased indicator already on the record.

Verify the death before you report it. A wrongly applied deceased designator is one of the most damaging single-character errors in the format and is difficult for the consumer to unwind.
Apply the designator to the deceased consumer only. On a joint account, do not carry it across to the surviving obligor.
Keep the deceased signals consistent across the record. A deceased ECOA designator alongside a Consumer Information Indicator that does not agree will fail the deceased-consistency edits.
Do not use code X to stop reporting. If the consumer should be removed, that is code Z; if the tradeline should be deleted, that is an Account Status question.
Re-read the 2026 CRRG language for this code before your next mapping change, since expectations for it were clarified in that revision.

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

Must agree with the Consumer Information Indicator's deceased values for the same consumer. A mismatch between the ECOA designator and the deceased indicator is a specific, commonly triggered validation failure.
Applies per consumer. Each J1 or J2 associated consumer carries its own ECOA code, so a deceased co-obligor is marked in their own segment while the Base Segment consumer is untouched.
Does not force Current Balance, Amount Past Due, Account Status, or Date Closed to any particular value. Those fields continue to describe the obligation.
Distinct from ECOA Z. Marking a consumer deceased and removing them from the tradeline are two different instructions, and sending one when you meant the other produces a record that contradicts the next cycle.