A common concern for people is “how long will a negative mark stay on my credit report?” The answer is a maximum of seven years. A bankruptcy or judgment can remain for 10 years depending upon the statute of limitations in your state.

For many people this feels like a heavy prison sentence. During this time they are afraid to try and move out of a cramped apartment or upgrade from an old junker of a car.

Why seven years?

Is a one time mistake with your credit really worthy of a seven year punishment? Why should you have to pay the outrageous cost of having a bad credit report, especially when it was just a brief time in your life? Do all the months of paying on time not count for anything?

Why is seven years the magical number? Has it been discovered that people will not make mistakes or run into financial hardship after seven years?

No, there is no solid reasoning behind the seven year reporting limit. It is a whimsical time limit.

Before Congress enacted the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in 1970 the credit bureaus were not limited whatsoever in how long they could report negative credit information. In fact, they could keep bad credit on your record forever!

Finally, Congress placed a time limit on the bureaus. Please do not be confused that seven years is how long an item must remain on your credit. Seven years is the reporting maximum.

Congress made it illegal for credit bureaus to report a bad credit mark for longer than seven years. Frequently people have successfully had a negative mark removed long before the seven year time limit.

Reporting to the credit bureaus is completely voluntary. Creditors and collection agencies are not required to report any notations or accounts to the bureaus. As well they often remove notations and accounts long before seven years.

Often creditors and collection agencies just need some encouragement from a good credit repair attorney or a compelling credit dispute letter. In addition, the credit bureaus themselves perform a form of credit repair at the seven year point.

In a perfect world there would be no arbitrary reporting limit. Instead, marks would remain as long as they bore the true characteristics of the applicant. Credit information would provide accurate indications of our credit worthiness and not just give the banker an excuse to jack up interest rates so they can earn a bigger profit.

Just like there is no good reason for the seven year time limit for a negative notation to be on your credit report. There is no good reason why we should not make efforts today to remove negative information from our credit report.

To learn more about credit repair or credit repair services visit us.

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