Metro 2 Special Comment Code AS: Refinanced or Replaced

Specification

Code	AS
Meaning	Refinanced or Replaced
Field	Special Comment (Field 31)
Record	Base Segment
Length / position	2 chars · 213–214
Category	Transfers, Refinances and Replacements
CRRG reference	CRRG Exhibits 6 & 7 (Special Comment Codes)

AS marks the closing tradeline in a refinance, explaining that the balance went to zero because a new obligation took its place, not because the borrower paid it off from savings.
AS does NOT mean the borrower stopped owing money. The debt moved into a new account that reports separately.
AS does NOT mean the loan was modified. A modification amends the existing contract and keeps the same tradeline; that is CN. A refinance creates a new one.
The replacement loan is a new tradeline with its own Date Opened. Do not attach the new loan's terms to the old record.
AS is terminal for the old tradeline. Once the refinance closes, the old record stops changing.

1A homeowner refinances a mortgage with the same servicer and the original loan closes with a zero balance while a new mortgage tradeline opens.
2A credit union rolls a member's two consumer loans into a single new consolidation loan.
3An auto lender refinances a vehicle loan at a lower rate under a new contract.
4A card issuer replaces an old product with a new account number and a new agreement rather than amending the existing one.

Report AS on the closing tradeline with a zero Current Balance and a populated Date Closed.
Open the replacement loan as its own tradeline with its own Date Opened, terms, and history going forward.
Do not report AS on a loan that was amended in place. Use CN for a modification.
Do not carry the old loan's delinquency history onto the new tradeline; each tradeline reports the history that belongs to it.
If the refinance was done by a different lender that also purchased the balance, make sure the sale is reflected correctly rather than implying an internal event.

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

Current Balance must be zero and Date Closed must be populated on the refinanced-away tradeline.
Account Status should describe the account as paid and closed, or as transferred where the balance genuinely moved to another party.
Amount Past Due must be zero; a refinanced tradeline cannot still be carrying arrears.
If the balance was sold or assigned as part of the transaction, a K2 Purchased From/Sold To Segment names the counterparty.
The new tradeline's Date Opened is the refinance date. Reusing the original Date Opened would misstate the age of the new obligation.