Most negative listings may be kept on your credit report
for a period of 7 years beginning on the date that you
were last reported late before they repair themselves.
This means that if you were late every month from March to
August of 1995, that your date of last activity would be
on August of 1995. In this case, the item would be due to
"fall off" on August of 2002.
You don't have to live with 7 years
of bad credit.
There are several exceptions to the seven year rule.
Bankruptcies may be reported for 10 years from the date
that the bankruptcy was discharged. Liens and judgments
may be reported for seven years or until the statute of
limitations in that state (usually between seven and ten
years) runs out, whichever is longer. However, credit
bureaus usually keep these listings on the report for the
seven year period regardless of the local statute of
limitations, unless you repair them first.
The other interesting exception is in the case of a
negative listing that has been sent to collections or has
been charged off. The seven year limit begins 180 days
after the last late payment before the account was charged
off or sent to collections. In other words, if you didn't
pay a certain bill from January to March, and the creditor
sent the account to collections in June, then the negative
listing could remain on your report for 7 and 1/2 years
from that last payment in March unless you repair your
credit first.
