Participant's plan loan showing up as liability on his credit report; how did it get there? What does it matter to a prospective lender?

[Guest mbb03]

I realize this question has been addressed before but I have a client who applied for a personal loan for a vehicle and the loan officer claims that his loan from his retirement plan is showing up. First of all, I don't know how this would show up on a credit report, second the liability for the loan is to the participant himself so how would this affect his credit rating or ability to qualify for a loan. Does anybody have anything in print form I can give to the participant discussing this?