When Do Loans Fall Off Your Credit Report?

Credit reports serve as a comprehensive record of your financial behavior, influencing access to various financial products and services. These reports are dynamic documents, meaning the information they contain changes over time. While positive financial actions contribute to a strong credit history, negative entries can impact your creditworthiness for specific periods. Understanding how long different types of financial information remain on your credit report is important for managing your financial standing.

Understanding Credit Report Reporting Timelines

The duration information remains on a credit report is primarily governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This federal law establishes the maximum time certain data points, particularly negative ones, can appear on your credit file. Most negative information, such as late payments, collection accounts, and charge-offs, typically remains on your credit report for a period of seven years. This seven-year period generally begins from the date of the original delinquency, which is the first missed payment after which the account was not brought current.

For more severe negative events like Chapter 7 bankruptcies, the reporting period extends to ten years from the filing date. Chapter 13 bankruptcies, however, typically remain for seven years from the filing date, as they involve a structured repayment plan. Positive information, such as accounts paid as agreed, can remain on your credit report for much longer, sometimes indefinitely or for up to ten years after the account is closed.

Specific Reporting Periods for Account Types

Different types of credit accounts and negative entries have specific timelines for how long they appear on your credit report.

Late Payments

Late payments remain on your credit report for seven years from the date of the missed payment. Creditors usually report a payment as late once it is 30 days past its due date. The impact of a late payment on your credit score generally lessens as the record ages.

Collection Accounts and Charge-Offs

Collection accounts and charge-offs stay on your credit report for seven years. For collection accounts, this seven-year period begins from the date of the original delinquency of the account that went to collections. A charge-off also remains for seven years from the first missed payment that led to the charge-off, not from the date it was charged off. Even if a collection account or charge-off is paid, it can still remain on your report for the full seven years, though its impact might lessen.

Foreclosures and Civil Judgments

Foreclosures remain on your credit report for seven years. This period is calculated from the date of the first missed payment that initiated the foreclosure process. Civil judgments also stay on a credit report for seven years from the filing date.

Bankruptcies

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy remains on your credit report for ten years from the filing date. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which involves a repayment plan, stays on your report for seven years from the filing date.

Positive Accounts

Active accounts in good standing stay on your report as long as they are open and being reported. Closed accounts that were paid as agreed can remain on your credit report for up to ten years from the date they were reported as closed. Conversely, closed accounts with negative information, like late payments, follow the seven-year rule from the original delinquency date.

Defaulted Student Loans

Defaulted student loans remain on your credit report for seven years from the date of default. This is often from the first missed payment that led to the default.

How Information is Removed from Your Credit Report

Information is removed from your credit report automatically once the legal reporting period expires. Credit bureaus are required to remove outdated negative entries after their designated timeframe. You do not typically need to take action for information to fall off naturally.

Monitoring your credit reports is an important practice to ensure accuracy and timely removal of aged information. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major nationwide credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—once every twelve months through AnnualCreditReport.com. Regularly reviewing these reports allows you to identify any information that should have been removed but is still present.

If you find information on your credit report that you believe is inaccurate or should have been removed due to age, you have the right to dispute it. The dispute process involves contacting the credit reporting company (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) and the entity that provided the information, such as a lender. You should explain the error in writing and provide any supporting documentation. The credit bureaus are generally required to investigate your dispute within 30 days. If the information is found to be inaccurate or unverifiable, it must be corrected or removed from your report.