How long does information stay on your credit report?

Answer 1

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act information can be included in your credit reports for seven years. But there are exceptions to this rule:

• Information about criminal convictions may be reported without any time limitation.

• Bankruptcy information may be reported for 10 years.

• Information reported in response to an application for a job with a salary of more than $75,000 has no time limit.

• Information reported because of an application for more than $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance has no time limit.

• Information about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.

Here is more input:

• The seven year statute of limitations on information listed on your credit report figures from the date of last activity.

• According to the FCR Act Section 605 a debt can remain on a credit report for 7 years and 180 days after the delinquency that caused the account to go bad. Sometimes creditors will sell their bad accounts or post information on the credit report to show an activity date that is less than 7 years. THIS IS PROHIBITED. (I ended up having a judgment removed, the collection accounts removed, and the original creditor account removed.) In short, the time clock starts on the month the original delinquency started by the original account, regardless of whether the account has been sold to a collection agency, was paid at a later date, or a judgment was placed. The FTC has ruled this to be the law when it comes to time periods. If the credit reporting agencies are showing an account on your record that originally went bad more than seven years ago, regardless of date of last activity, dispute the information and they will have to remove it. The reasoning behind this is similar to chapter 13 bankruptcy which stays on your credit for just 7 years instead of chapter 7. The courts have ruled if you did not file a bankruptcy and had several bad credit items they would strictly fall in under the chapter 13 guidelines. I ended up paying on debts that were less than 7 years old and had all the collections, judgments, and original creditors of more than 7 years removed. Even though the judgment was only 2 years old and unpaid and the collection account was only 3 years old, they were still bound to the time line of the original creditor. This regulation prevents accounts from staying on your credit forever.

Answer 2

The length of time negative information is allowed to remain on your credit reports is largely defined by the FCRA. Unlike positive information, almost all negative information eventually must be removed from your credit reports. However, not all negative information has the same timeline for removal.

For example, late payments are allowed to remain on a credit report for as long as seven years from the date of their occurrence. This includes any notation that one or more of your accounts was 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 or 180-plus days past due. These are the only late payments that can appear on your credit reports.

Charge-offs, accounts in collections, repossessions, foreclosures and settlements all indicate that you've defaulted on an account. In every one of these scenarios, the credit reporting agencies are allowed to report them for no longer than seven years from the original delinquency date that led to their default.

Bankruptcies are another example of negative information that can appear on your credit reports. There are two main types of bankruptcies consumers can file: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy, also called a straight bankruptcy, discharges all legally dischargeable debts. A discharge doesn't eliminate the debt, but it prevents creditors from attempting to collect it from the person who filed bankruptcy. Creditors are still able to collect the debt from other liable parties, such as a cosigner or guarantor. Chapter 7 bankruptcies can remain on credit reports for up to 10 years from the bankruptcy's filing date.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is also called a repayment plan or a wage earner's plan. People who do not qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, likely because they are still employed, may qualify for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. With a Chapter 13 you will be required to make payments to a court-designated trustee, who will then distribute the funds to your creditors. After no longer than five years, any remaining debt is discharged. While Chapter 13 bankruptcies can legally remain on your credit reports for up to 10 years, Experian removes them seven years from the filing date.

Inquiries don't fall neatly into either the positive or negative information categories. Inquiries are either neutral or negative to your credit scores, but do not indicate mismanagement or the default of a credit obligation, and don't always result in a lower credit score.

Inquiries are simply a record of access into your credit reports by a third party, like a lender. Inquiries will remain on your credit reports for up to two years, and are considered either "soft" or "hard."

A soft inquiry results when you or someone else views your credit report for non-lending purposes, such as a credit card preapproval. Soft inquiries don't affect your credit scores. A hard inquiry will appear as a result of applying for credit or debt. Hard inquiries are visible to anyone who views your credit reports, and too many can lower your credit scores.