F.A.Q. s

What Will Negative Tradelines Cost The Borrower ?

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What can be removed?

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How often are credit reports wrong?

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Expiration of Negative Credit Information

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Get a Free Credit Report. A Federal law the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting agencies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once a year.

 

Expiration of Negative Credit Information

Most negative credit information has an expiration date, but the credit reporting agencies don't always remove items when they should. Removing expired information can raise your credit score.

  Bankruptcy filing records : Bankruptcy filing records expire from your credit reports 10 years after the filing date. Based on credit bureau preferences, Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings may be removed from your report after 7 years instead. Each account marked as "included in BK" remains on your report for 7 years from the filing.

  Charge-off records : A record appears on your credit report when a creditor or lender charges-off your delinquent debt as a loss. This record remains on your credit report for 7 years.

  Collection records : Collection records expire 7 years after the last 180 day late payment that led to the account being sold to collections. This expiration date is the same even if the account was sold to another collection agency.

  Closed accounts : Closed negative accounts (with late payment or other negative records) will expire from your credit report after 7 years. Closed positive accounts (with no late payments or other negative records) can remain on your credit report longer.

  Foreclosure records : Property deed-in-lieu and foreclosure records will remain on your credit report for 7 years.

  Inquiries : Records of credit and loan applications will remain on your credit report for 1-2 years. Checking your own credit reports and scores online does not cause this kind of damaging inquiry.

  Judgments : Court decisions such child support, civil, and small claims judgments will remain on your credit report for 7 years after the filing date.

  Late payments : All late payment records remain on your credit report for 7 years. However, only late payments that go beyond 30 days will continue to have a negative impact for all seven years. Read more about the real impact of late payments.

  Repossession records : Vehicle and property repossession records remain on your credit report for 7 years.

  Tax liens : Tax lien records can remain on your credit report indefinitely if left unpaid. Once the lien is paid, the record remains on your credit report for 7 years from the paid date. This is true for city, country, state, and federal tax liens.