Is it true that bad ratings come off your credit report after 7 years?

Question

From what date are the 7 years calculated? Once the time has passed will they automatically be taken off or will i have to something to make sure they will come off. What if they are charged off accounts that were never paid, do those come off too?

Im currently trying to rebuild my credit and my score is 610...i have a whole bunch of charge offs that will be coming off in the next 2 years...the only currentl credit I have is 4 student loans that ive been paying religiously...any other tips on how to raise my score....

Answer 1

The reporting statute of limitations (SOL) for credit cards starts to run the first time you became 30 days late and never brought the account current leading to the charge off. That is called the compliance date. The length of time it runs is 7 years from that date.

A side note here for others that may question what I just stated:
Many people mistakenly believe that it is 7 years from the date of last activity (DOLA) which is 6 months after the compliance date.
The FTC opinion is what I had stated above. They 'allow' that extra 6 months (from compliance date to the DOLA) for bureau and data furnisher error leeway. But while the FTC allows that, they still hold the opinion that the 7 years starts from the compliance date.

Ok, with that being said, before you start disputing anything, you really need to check the collecting SOL for your state. If you are still within SOL and start disputing, you may 'wake' the collectors up.

If you are out of the collecting SOL, opt out first and update your personal information on your reports.

Keep in mind that even if you are out of your states SOL for collecting on those debts, the collection agencys can still try to collect. They cannot legally sue you if you are out of SOL, but they can call or write to you about the debts. Generally, if they do try to collect after you are out of SOL, a debt validation letter followed by a SOL letter will make them stop. Not always though.

To find your compliance date, your reports will either give you the DOLA or a short sentence stating when it will come off, count back 6 months from those dates.

You can try to dispute the charge offs as obsolete when they are close to the 6 month mark of falling off. Many times when an account gets that much age on it, it will be deleted rather than verified and remaining.

Yes both paid charge offs and unpaid charge offs are treated the same as far as the reporting period.

Have I confused you yet? lol

As for rebuilding your credit, 610 is a workable score for some cards. Of course that would depend on how many charge offs you have and the amount on them.

For major credit cards, you may have to start with a secured card. I would suggest going to the Bank of America, Orchard Bank and HSBC websites and do the card selector that they have. By doing the card selector, they will not pull a hard inquiry unless you actually apply for a recommend card. Keep in mind that even if a card is recommended, you can still be denied.

As for store cards, you might try Chevron/Texaco and Walmart.
Chevron/Texaco has a rebuilder card, if you don't qualify for the regular gas card they may offer the rebuilder card.

Walmart is fairly easy, most of the time. But you will probably start off with a pretty low limit - $75.00. They are very good with credit increases every 4 months. But to get those increases, you would have to make a charge each month and pay it off. It doesn't matter if the charge you make is $5.00 (or less) as long as you create a good payment history.

You might go to the site I've listed and start in the newbie forum and then do some reading in the credit forum.
You can learn more about disputing with the bureaus, how to rebuild your credit, more about the collecting SOL on your charge offs etc.

Answer 2

Generally the seven years starts from the date you made your last payment.
Also, just because the debt is no longer listed on your report does not change the fact that you still owe that money-it just cannot be reported on your credit file.
However,don't be fooled into a false sense of hope that all of your negative balances will disappear after seven years. Collections agencies have started practicing re-aging- a process where they buy your old account from the original company and then report the debt as a new debt instead of an old one-this helps to extend the time line way beyond 7yrs. They do this to put pressure on you and make you pay. Keep a close eye on your report, even though this practice is illegal and many companies have been fined for this behavior, it still happens to millions of consumers every year. If the statue of limitations has expired you may have to seek legal action to stop harassment from the companies and get the negative information removed from your account. Check out this web page:
www.ftc.gov
/opa/2004/05
/ncogroup.htm

Answer 3

Once an agency reports your account as delinquent, it will remain on for 7 years. Unless you never pay your bill, then longer. Charged off accounts remain on for 7 years from the time the account is charged off.

Example: the phone bill my old roomates charged up during college and never paid (under my name). went to collection in 1999. Bought a car in 2001, saw the item and paid the account.

Bought a car last week, no longer on my credit report. 1999-2006 = 7 years.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

Collection accounts come off your report after seven years from the date of last activity. You can see the date of last activity right on your report for each collection account. They should come off automatically whether they are paid or not. Keep track of your credit report to make sure that the collection accounts have been removed from your report. If they don't then you can dispute the collection and an investigation will be done and the collection will be removed.

Answer 5

They come off after 7 years no matter if you pay them or not. Doesn't mean the collection agencies are going to stop calling you but they know they don't have much of a leg to stand on cause they can't go after you any other way but by phone and being a-- h----.

Run your reports on Annualcreditreport.com and see what you can do to fix. Meaning work with or anything and then dispute the ones that are incorrect or older then 7 years from the status date or date of original date of late payment.

:)

Answer 6

As usual, Echo is the only correct person responding to this.

I'll keep it short because you are asking a very specific question.

The 7 year time period begins on the date you became delinquent. That means, if you owed a bill on Jan 1, 1999, and missed it, THAT begins the reporting period.

NOT the last transaction date.
NOT ther reporting date
NOT the day you pay off the debt

It's very clearly written in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and again stated in a FTC opinion paper. Unfortunately, the vast majority of responders here simply refuse to research their answers. Even after I have posted this answer and my sources many dozens of times.

Amazing, isn't it?

Personally I'm convinced they are collection agents, and they simply can not change their instincts to lie.

Answer 7

Bad credit meaning late payments come off after seven years. Bankruptcy and foreclosure take ten years to come off. When the seven years from the date of the last charge-off has passed, request copies of your credit report from the three major credit bureaus: Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax. If bad credit shows up after seven years, contact the bureau(s) where it shows up and request that they correct it. Keep on paying any loans that you have currently, maintain your current credit history, and your score shold improve with time.

Answer 8

Consumer reporting agencies may not retain negative information for an excessive period of time. The FCRA spells out how long negative information, such as late payments, bankruptcies, tax liens or judgments may stay on a consumer's credit report - typically 7 years from the date of the delinquency. The exceptions: bankruptcies (10 years) and tax liens (7 years from the time they are paid).

Answer 9

Yes, bad ratings come off automatically 7 years from the date they are reported. Even charge offs come off that were never paid....)(

Answer 10

yes 7 years after they report it but it depends on how long they wait to report it if they wait 2 years then it will take 9 years & so on!!...& no most of the time you dont have to do any thing it just kind of disapears but u never know sometimes that stuff stays with you forever & u do have to do something about it!....the bottom link tells tips on how to raise your credit score....