What Does it Mean When My Credit Report Says That an Account is

Federal law (US Code Title 15, §1681c) controls the behavior of credit reporting agencies. This law is known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Under FCRA §605 (a) and (b), an account in collection will appear on a consumer's credit report for 7.5 years. The clock starts approximately 180 days after the date of first delinquency on the account. To learn when an account will be removed by the credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian and others), add 7.5 years to the date of first delinquency. Subsequent activity, such as resolving the debt, is irrelevant to the seven-year rule. However, if the debt is a tax lien, that can appear for seven years from the date of payment. A bankruptcy will appear for ten years from the date of the final order. Delinquent federal student loans can be reported indefinitely, i.e., for as long as they are delinquent.

Just because a debt is removed from a credit report that does not mean the statute of limitations for receiving a judgment to collect the debt has passed. Federal credit report laws and a state statute of limitations laws are separate and independent from each other. The seven years starts running from the date of first delinquency, which generally means seven and a half years from the date of last payment. Review your credit report carefully to make sure that the dates of last payment being reported on these accounts are correct.

It is possible that the debt can be removed from the credit report if you still have an outstanding balance. The creditor may still attempt to collect on the debt. If the creditor attempts to collect I encourage you read an article I wrote providing Collections Advice.

The law stating that derogatory items must be removed from credit reports after seven years is designed to help consumers recover from past credit mistakes and help them rebuild their credit rating. If you find charged-off accounts appearing on your credit report after seven years, you may want to dispute the incorrect listings with the credit bureaus.

I answered a similar question for a fellow reader, and I encourage you visit our Advice on removing old items from credit reports Web page.

I hope this information helps you Find. Learn & Save.

Best,

Bill

www.bills.com/