DNo Recurring Schedule
Terms Frequency Code D: Deferred
Terms Frequency Code D means "Deferred". No payment is contractually due right now. The obligation exists and usually keeps accruing, but the payment schedule is suspended for a defined period. It is reported in Terms Frequency (Field 28) of the Base Segment, 1 character at position 194.
Specification
| Code | D |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Deferred |
| Field | Terms Frequency (Field 28) |
| Record | Base Segment |
| Length / position | 1 char · 194–194 |
| Category | No Recurring Schedule |
| CRRG reference | CRRG Base Segment field definition, Terms Frequency |
What Terms Frequency Code D means
- D describes a suspension of the schedule, not a slower schedule. There is no cadence to state because nothing is currently due.
- The classic case is a student loan in in-school deferment, grace, or an authorized forbearance, where repayment has not started or has been paused.
- It also covers documented skip-payment and deferred-payment workouts on installment products, where the servicer has agreed in writing that no payment is due for a stated period.
- D does NOT mean the account is delinquent. A properly deferred account is current, because nothing was due and therefore nothing was missed. Reporting a deferred account as past due is the error this code exists to prevent.
- D does NOT mean interest stopped. Whether interest accrues during deferment is a product question and is expressed through the balance, not through this field.
- D is a temporary state. When the deferment ends, the record must move to the real repayment cadence, normally M, in the cycle repayment begins.
When to report D
- 1A student loan servicer reports a private education loan for a borrower still enrolled at least half time, with no payment due until six months after graduation.
- 2A federal student loan sits in an authorized economic-hardship deferment and the servicer reports the account current with no scheduled payment.
- 3An auto lender grants a documented two-month skip-payment after a natural disaster and reports the deferred period rather than a missed payment.
- 4A lender defers the first payment on a promotional retail installment plan for ninety days and reports D until the first payment comes due.
- 5A medical-finance lender pauses payments during an agreed hardship period and resumes monthly billing afterwards.
Reporting rules
- Report the account as current while it is properly deferred. A deferment that shows up as delinquency is a substantive accuracy problem, not a formatting one.
- Move off D in the cycle repayment actually resumes. A loan still reporting D months after the borrower re-entered repayment understates the obligation.
- Do not use D to hide a delinquency you have not documented as a deferral. The workout must be real and agreed.
- Report the deferred-payment details in the K4 (Specialized Payment Information) segment where the product has a defined deferred-payment start date and amount, rather than trying to encode them in the terms fields.
- Keep Terms Duration at the contractual term. Deferment pauses payments, it does not shorten the loan.
Codes and fields that must agree
A file can be structurally valid and still be wrong. These are the cross-field conditions Terms Frequency Code D has to satisfy.
- Scheduled Monthly Payment is normally zero or blank while D is in effect, because no payment is due. This is the one legitimate case where an installment account carries no scheduled payment, and it is why the scheduled-payment-missing-installment edit has to be read alongside Terms Frequency rather than alone.
- Pairs naturally with Portfolio Type I, particularly student loans and installment workouts. D on Portfolio Type R or O is a contradiction, because a card or utility bill does not defer its cycle.
- The K4 Specialized Payment Information segment is the right home for deferred-payment start dates and amounts on products that have them.
- Actual Payment Amount will normally be zero during deferment. A non-zero actual payment against a deferred account is legitimate (a borrower may pay voluntarily) but should not be read as a scheduled payment.
- Account Status should reflect a current account. A deferred account reported with a delinquent status while Terms Frequency is D is an internally inconsistent record.
- Terms Duration stays at the original payment count. Shortening it to reflect the deferment produces an amount-logic-error against Original Loan Amount and Scheduled Monthly Payment.
Common errors involving D
Vocabulary
Keep browsing
- All 11 terms frequency codes — the full set with categories and cross-field rules.
- Metro 2 codes cheat sheet — every CRRG code set on one page.
- Terms Frequency field reference — position, length, and validation rules.
- Metro 2 format reference
See Terms Frequency Code D in your own file
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