It would be a setting (or usergroup) that somehow overrides the subscription timer function... the member would stay in the red even if their subscription lapsed.
Several folks who were members before we adopted the paid subscriptions stayed in the red... until the admins crossed that list against the members roster. This was done a short time ago, and those affected are noticing they are in the black...
I'm pretty sure all the subscriptions that folks get for themselves (as opposed to one that was manually input by an admin) send an automatic reminder, then time out a couple days later.