How Long Does Negative Credit Information Stay on My Credit Report?

At some point, nearly everyone is late on a payment or faces financial hardships for one reason or another. Unfortunately however, though the situation may be successfully resolved it can still haunt you on your credit report and negatively impact your credit score for years to come.

Though there are several proprietary and complex credit scoring processes used by the credit reporting agencies, these processes typically apply more weight, or negative impact, to recent negative credit information and gradually reduce that negative score impact based upon how long the information has been reported. A late payment, for example, will have a much more dramatic impact on your credit score in the first 6 to 12 months than it does two or three years after it was first reported. The amount of negative score impact is also based upon the severity of the negative information reported (i.e. - a 30-day late payment compared to a 90-day late, a judgment, or an unpaid collection account.)

With certain exceptions, accurate negative information may be included in your credit report file for a period of seven years. This reporting period is established under federal law known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

FRAUDFacts Tip: Regardless of the claims by many so-called credit repair and credit correction companies, accurate negative credit information cannot be legally removed from your credit report unless it is included beyond its authorized reporting period, or if it is no longer able to be verified. In these cases, you can use the established dispute processes yourself and have the information corrected or removed.

Exceptions to the Seven Year Reporting Period Include:

• Lawsuits and unpaid judgments may be reported for seven (7) years, or until the statute of limitations expires, whichever time period is greater

• Bankruptcies may be included for a period of ten (10) years

• Information reported regarding criminal convictions may be included indefinitely

• Information reported as a result of an application for employment with a salary of $75,000 or more may be included indefinitely

• Information reported as a result of an application for $150,000 or more in credit or life insurance may be included indefinitely