How long do negative items stay on your credit report?

Most negative items, like late payments and collections, can stay on your credit report for 7 years, and a bankruptcy for up to 10. You can remove items that are wrong or too old for free, but accurate, current items stay until they age off.

Seven years for most negative items

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law on credit reports, most negative information can be reported for 7 years. That covers late payments, charge-offs and collection accounts.

Up to 10 years for bankruptcy

A bankruptcy can stay on your report for up to 10 years from the date it was filed. Lawsuits and judgments can stay 7 years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.

Paying doesn't restart the clock

The reporting period for a collection is set by when you first fell behind. Paying the debt, settling it or having it sold to a new collector doesn't reset it.

Paid and small medical collections come off

Since April 2023, the three nationwide bureaus have said they don't report paid medical collections or medical collections under $500. They also wait a year before a medical debt can appear.

Negative items fade over time

An old late payment hurts your score less than a recent one. Every month of on-time payments helps.

What counts as a negative item

A late payment is reported once you are 30 or more days past due. Lenders report how late you were: 30, 60, 90 or more days. A payment a few days late with a fee usually isn't reported, though you still owe the fee.

A charge-off is when a lender gives up on collecting and writes the debt off as a loss, usually after about 6 months of missed payments. You still owe the money. A collection account is a debt that was handed or sold to a collection agency. A bankruptcy is a court case that wipes out or restructures debt.

How the 7-year clock works

For a late payment, the 7 years run from the date of that late payment. If you were late once and caught up, that single late mark comes off 7 years later.

For collections and charge-offs, the law sets the start date. The 7 years begin 180 days after the delinquency that led to the collection or charge-off. So a debt you stopped paying can be reported for about 7 and a half years from the first missed payment.

That date can't legally move. If a collector buys an old debt and reports it as new, that's an error you can dispute. Paying it, settling it or making a partial payment changes the status on your report but not the date it drops off.

Medical debt has its own rules

The three nationwide credit bureaus made voluntary changes to medical collections. Paid medical collections are removed. Medical collections under $500 are not reported. And a medical bill can't show up as a collection until a year after it went unpaid, which gives you time to sort out insurance.

A CFPB rule that would have kept most medical bills off credit reports was struck down by a federal court, so it never took effect. The bureaus' own policies still apply, and some states have their own limits on medical debt reporting. Check your state attorney general's site for your state's rules.

Disputing items that are wrong or too old

You have the right to dispute anything on your report that's inaccurate or past its reporting period. File the dispute with each bureau that shows the item, online or by mail, and include copies of any proof, like a payment record or a letter from the lender.

Also write to the company that reported it, called the furnisher. The bureau generally has 30 days to investigate. If the item can't be verified, it must be fixed or removed. Disputing is free. You never need to pay anyone to do it.

What you can do about accurate items

An accurate, current item stays until it ages off. You can still soften it. For a single late payment on an account in good standing, a goodwill letter asks the lender to remove it as a courtesy. Explain what happened in a few sentences and note your record since.

For a collection you plan to pay, you can ask the collector to stop reporting it in exchange for payment. Collectors don't have to agree. If they do, get it in writing before you pay.

Most of all, build new history. Pay every bill on time from now on and keep card balances low. Recent good behavior counts for more than old mistakes.

Watch out for credit repair scams

The FTC is clear that no one can legally remove accurate, current information from your report. Credit repair companies can't charge you before they've done the work, and they must give you a written contract and 3 days to cancel. Walk away from anyone who tells you to dispute items you know are true.