How Long Do Financial Records Remain on Your Credit Report?

Financial records typically remain on your credit report for seven to 10 years, depending on the type of negative mark. As you demonstrate responsible financial behavior over time, the impact of bad credit items diminishes, and you can rebuild your credit sooner.

Although the average credit score is 715, nearly 60% of Americans want to learn more about how to improve their score. Negative marks from late payments can be a major contributor to low credit scores, leaving many wondering how long they can linger on credit reports.

Luckily, you can still have a decent or even excellent score with negative marks on your report. Keep reading to understand how long activity stays on your report and what you can do if you have a poor credit history. 

In This Piece:

• How Long Does Something Stay on Your Credit Report?
• How Long Does the Good Stuff Stay on My Credit Report?
• How Long Does Negative Information Stay on Your Credit Report?
• Do You Still Have to Pay the Debt If It Fell Off Your Credit Report?
• Does Your Credit Score Improve When Negative Items Fall Off Your Credit Report?
• Disputing Incorrect Credit Items

How Long Does Something Stay on Your Credit Report?

Generally, it takes two to 10 years for something to come off your credit report after you pay it off. But as time passes from the negative mark, it has less impact on your overall score. 

Positive credit activity, such as making timely payments, can remain on your report for up to 10 years. If you keep accounts with good activity open, you could stretch this much longer. 

Different types of negative activity have certain reporting limits set by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), so lenders must stop reporting marks to the credit bureau after a set amount of time that varies for each type of mark.

How Long Does the Good Stuff Stay on My Credit Report?

In general, positive information stays on your credit report for up to 10 years. After this period, a closed account typically ages off your report, taking any positive information with it.

However, keeping an account open and in good standing can positively impact your credit if it stays open and active on your credit report. For example, if you’ve had the same credit card account for 20 years and have always paid on time, that positive information remains on your report. It also helps increase the age of your credit, which is good for your score.

Pro tip: Keep old credit card accounts open and use them occasionally if you’re not tempted to run up more debt, making sure to pay off the balances immediately. This helps keep those accounts active and reporting to the credit bureaus, which can benefit your score.

How Long Does Negative Information Stay on Your Credit Report?

How long negative information stays on your credit report varies. The FCRA explains the limits on reporting the different kinds of derogatory marks, though some of these limits also vary according to state law. Here’s how long incidents of negative credit history generally remain on consumer reports, as mandated by the FCRA.

Bad Credit Accounts: 10 Years

Bad credit can stay on your credit report for up to ten years after it’s closed, although the individual marks will expire in the time outlined by the FCRA.

Keep in mind that your credit score can fluctuate depending on your current loans, credit, payment history, and even your home renting behavior. You can see improvements quickly when practicing better habits, such as lowering debt. 

Pro tip: You may find success if you prioritize paying off credit card debt, starting with the highest interest rate while making smaller payments (at least the minimum) for lower interest debts.

Late Payments: Seven Years

Creditors can report late payments for up to seven years after delinquency. Let’s say you missed one credit card payment several years ago and still use that credit card, always making on-time payments since that one incident. Once the late payment is seven years old, the delinquency generally can’t be included in the history of that account on your credit report.

Pro tip: If you accidentally miss a payment, call your issuer to see if they might agree not to report it to the credit bureaus and/or waive the late fee. Occasionally credit card companies will agree if your payment history was stellar until the misstep.

Charge-Offs: Seven Years

Accounts you didn’t pay, like a charged-off credit card or installment loan balance, can stay on your credit report for seven years from the date the debt was charged off. A charge-off is when the creditor officially writes your debt off its books as a loss.

Remember that a creditor writing off your unpaid debt as a loss doesn’t mean you don’t owe the debt. Your creditor may sell your charged-off debt to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar. The collection agency may then attempt to collect the debt anew.

Pro tip: Even if a debt has been charged off, consider contacting the original creditor to negotiate a debt settlement. Since the debt is old and less likely to be paid, the creditor may be willing to accept less than what you owe to consider the matter closed.

Foreclosures and Short Sales: Seven Years

A foreclosure can remain on your credit reports for seven years from the foreclosure filing date. The same goes for a short sale, which could appear on your credit report as a charge-off, a settlement, a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, or “settled for less than the full amount due.” No matter how it’s reported, a short sale is considered a derogatory event.

Pro tip: If you can’t pay your mortgage due to financial hardship, contact your lender as soon as possible. You may be eligible for various relief programs, including situational programs like mortgage relief or lender programs like restructuring or forbearance.

Hard Inquiries: Two Years

There are two kinds of credit inquiries, and only one—a hard inquiry—hurts your credit score. A soft inquiry, like an account review by your current credit card issuer, won’t harm your credit score.

Hard inquiries occur when you apply for credit, like a new credit card, and your potential lender evaluates your application. A hard inquiry will ding your credit score, but it won’t last too long. Hard inquiries only remain on your credit report for two years and only affect your credit score for around 12 months.

Pro tip: Most credit scoring models group inquiries if they occur within 14-45 days of each other, depending on the credit scoring model. This allows borrowers to compare lenders. If you plan to shop for auto, student, or mortgage loans, apply for them within a short period to ensure your credit score is only hit once.

Collection Accounts: Seven and a Half Years

A collection account can stay on your credit report for seven years plus 180 days from the delinquency date that immediately preceded collection activity. 

For example, say you were inconsistent with your cable bill—you missed it in January but caught up in February, only to miss it again in March and April. Your cable company sends the bill to a debt collector at that point. That collection account can remain on your credit report for seven years plus 180 days from the date your bill was due in March.

While evictions don’t show on your credit report, the collections account can if your landlord turns you in for unpaid rent.

Here’s the part many people don’t like: Whether or not you paid the collection account, it can still stay on your report for that period. Unless it is medical debt collections, those now should fall off when they are paid. Some credit scoring models don’t factor in collection accounts once they’re paid, but others do.

Bankruptcy: Seven or 10 Years

Bankruptcies show up in the public records section of credit reports. Creditors may report Chapter 7 bankruptcies for 10 years from the filing date. Chapter 13 bankruptcies are generally removed after seven years from the filing date. 

Bankruptcies can provide much-needed financial relief in certain situations. To improve your credit score after a bankruptcy, continue to pay down your debts and you could reduce the impact on your credit report.

Do You Still Have to Pay the Debt If It Fell Off Your Credit Report?

Debt can fall off your credit report even if you haven’t fully paid it if it’s older than the reporting limit. Just because debt isn’t affecting your credit score doesn’t mean you don’t need to pay it. If the debt is still within the statute of limitations for the state where it was incurred, lenders could still attempt to collect it.

Depending on the circumstances, this could mean garnishing your wages or attempting to collect payments through other legal measures. However, before lenders or debt collectors can take these steps, they must win a judgment against you for the debt in court. 

Does Your Credit Score Improve When Negative Items Fall Off Your Credit Report?

Your score may improve when negative items age off your report, although these are usually subtle improvements. Negative items have less impact as they age, so they might only cause a negligible effect on your score when they’re ready to age off your report. 

Start earning a good credit score by adding positive items while you wait for negative ones to fall off your report. 

Disputing Incorrect Credit Items

Because negative items can impact your score, it’s important to dispute any incorrect negative items. If you think a collection account is listed more than once or the date is wrong, you may have a reason to challenge the accuracy of the item and get it removed from your credit report. Some agencies can help you find and dispute errors to clean up your credit report.

Creating a strong, positive credit history is the best way to protect your score or improve your financial situation after a bad credit history. Sign up for a free credit report card at Credit.com to get valuable insight into your credit.

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