Metro 2 Special Comment Code AB: Agreement in Place

Specification

Code	AB
Meaning	Agreement in Place
Field	Special Comment (Field 31)
Record	Base Segment
Length / position	2 chars · 213–214
Category	Hardship, Workout and Payment Plans
CRRG reference	CRRG Exhibits 6 & 7 (Special Comment Codes)

The source's stated purpose is a formal payment plan: something written and agreed, not an informal promise to catch up.
AB describes the existence of the agreement. It does not say the borrower is current under the original contract, and it does not by itself cure a delinquency.
AB does NOT mean the debt was settled for less than the full balance. It says an arrangement governs payment, not that the obligation shrank.
Where the arrangement is specifically a structured catch-up of arrears, AU (repayment plan) is the more precise comment; where it specifically changes the payment to interest only, AC is.
Once the borrower completes or breaks the agreement, AB stops being true and must come off.

1A collection agency and a consumer sign a written schedule of monthly payments toward a placed account and the consumer begins paying on it.
2A card issuer moves a hardship customer onto a fixed reduced payment under a formal hardship program.
3A lender documents a written arrangement with a small-business borrower to pay a defined amount each month while cash flow recovers.
4A furnisher records an agreed schedule following a loss-mitigation review that stopped short of a permanent modification.

Report AB only while the agreement exists and the borrower is performing under it.
Remove the comment the cycle after the agreement ends, whether it ended by completion or by the borrower defaulting on it.
Do not use AB as a generic soft comment on any delinquent account. It asserts that a specific arrangement exists.
If the agreement changed the contractual terms of the loan itself, report CN instead; AB is for an arrangement layered on the existing obligation.
Continue reporting the honest Account Status and Payment Rating alongside the comment.

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

Scheduled Monthly Payment should reflect the amount actually required under the agreement if the agreement replaced the contractual payment for the duration.
Actual Payment Amount and Date of Last Payment should be consistent with a borrower who is performing; an agreement comment with no payments arriving invites an edit.
Amount Past Due continues to be calculated against what is currently required, so an arrangement that is being honored generally shows a shrinking past-due amount.
Date of First Delinquency does not move because an agreement was reached.
If the agreement resolves the account in full, the terminal condition (Account Status paid/closed with zero Current Balance and a populated Date Closed) replaces the comment.