How Long Do Negative Items Stay on Your Credit Report?

Every negative item on a credit report has an expiration date — the Fair Credit Reporting Act sets a maximum reporting window for each type of derogatory information, and once that window closes, the item has to come off automatically. The confusing part is that the clock does not always start on the date you would guess: a charge-off's seven years does not start when it was charged off, and paying a collection does not restart its window. This page lays out the exact timeframe for every common negative item and the date each one actually counts from, so you can tell an item that is simply aging out from one that is overstaying its legal welcome — which is a dispute you can win.

The rule in one sentence: Most negative items report for seven years (charge-offs and collections add 180 days) measured from the date of first delinquency, bankruptcies run 7–10 years from the filing date, and an accurate item cannot be removed early — but a wrong date or an expired item that is still reporting is an FCRA inaccuracy you can dispute.

Quick-reference table

Late payments — 7 years from the missed payment

A late payment (30, 60, 90, or 120+ days delinquent) reports for seven years from the date it first went delinquent — the date you missed the payment that never got caught up. It does not reset every month the account stays open and late; it is tied to that original delinquency date. See how to dispute a late payment if the date, the status, or the account itself looks wrong.

Charge-offs and collections — 7 years + 180 days from the DOFD

Charge-offs and collection accounts share the same rule: seven years plus 180 days from the date of first delinquency (DOFD) on the original account — the date it first went late and was never brought current again. This is the single most misunderstood date on a credit report, because:

• Selling the debt does not reset it. When a charge-off is sold to a collector, the new collection tradeline inherits the original DOFD — it does not get a fresh seven-year clock from the sale date.
• Paying does not reset it. Paying or settling a collection does not extend how long it can report; a debt collector who re-ages the DOFD to make an old debt look new is committing a reportable FCRA violation.

See what is a charge-off and does paying collections help your credit? for the full mechanics of each.

Hard inquiries — 2 years, but the score impact fades faster

Hard inquiries stay visible for two years, though their effect on your score is usually gone within about 12 months. An inquiry from an application you actually made is accurate and cannot be disputed away; one you never authorized is a different story. See how to dispute hard inquiries.

Bankruptcy — 10 years (Chapter 7) or 7 years (Chapter 13), from filing

• Chapter 7 — up to 10 years from the filing date.
• Chapter 13 — up to 7 years from the filing date.

Both are measured from when you filed, not when the case closed or discharged. Individual accounts included in the bankruptcy are governed by the same clock and should come off after the shorter window. If you are working through this stage, see how to rebuild credit after bankruptcy.

Foreclosure and repossession — 7 years from the DOFD

Both report for seven years from the date of first delinquency on the underlying loan — the same DOFD-based rule as a charge-off, without the extra 180 days.

Tax liens and civil judgments — no longer on credit reports at all

This one surprises people who remember it differently: under the 2017–2018 National Consumer Assistance Plan (NCAP), the three bureaus removed all civil judgments (2017) and, after a second pass, all remaining tax liens (by April 2018) from consumer credit reports. As of the CFPB's own retrospective, bankruptcies are now the only public record that still appears on a credit report — a tax lien or civil judgment showing up as a bureau tradeline today would itself be worth disputing as inaccurate. The lien or judgment itself still exists as a public record (courthouse or county recorder) and can surface in other background checks; it simply no longer appears on the standard credit report bureaus sell to lenders.

Medical collections — a shorter, bureau-set timeline (not a federal law)

Medical collection reporting is governed by voluntary policy changes the three bureaus adopted in 2022–2023, not by a federal statute — worth knowing because a proposed CFPB rule that would have banned medical debt from credit reports entirely was struck down in court in July 2025. Under the bureaus' current policy:

• Paid medical collections are removed from credit reports.
• Unpaid medical collections under $500 are not reported at all.
• Bureaus wait one year (365 days) from the date medical debt is placed for collection before reporting it, giving insurance and billing disputes time to resolve.
• A medical collection that clears that bar reports on the same 7-year, DOFD-based clock as any other collection.

Because this is bureau policy rather than statute, treat these thresholds as current-as-of-today rather than permanent — but as of this writing they are the operative rule at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Evictions — not on the credit report itself

An eviction judgment does not appear on your standard credit report — the underlying civil judgment was removed from credit reports under the NCAP described above. Evictions do, however, show up on tenant-screening reports, which are a separate consumer-reporting product from a different kind of agency and are outside the scope of a standard credit dispute.

Positive accounts — a longer memory than you might expect

A closed account in good standing can stay on your report for up to about 10 years, continuing to help your credit history length even after it closes. This is the one case where a long reporting window works in your favor.

The part that actually matters: accurate items can't be disputed away — but wrong dates can

None of these timeframes are optional for the accurate underlying facts. If the debt is yours, the date is right, and the status is right, a dispute over an accurate item will come back verified — disputing accurate data wastes a cycle. Where you have real leverage is when the reporting itself is wrong:

• The date of first delinquency is incorrect or has been re-aged to look more recent.
• An item is still reporting past its statutory window (a charge-off showing at year nine, for instance).
• A tax lien, judgment, or eviction is appearing on your credit report at all, given the NCAP removals above.
• A paid or under-$500 medical collection is still reporting.

Those are FCRA §611 accuracy disputes — the strongest kind — and DisputeValet.com's bureau dispute letter is built to challenge exactly this class of error, with your certified-mail dates tracked against the 30-day reinvestigation clock.

How DisputeValet.com helps

DisputeValet.com helps you tell the difference between an item that is simply aging out on schedule and one that is overstaying its legal window because of a wrong date, a re-aged account, or reporting that should have stopped entirely. Training mode walks through each reporting timeframe, and the builder assembles a documented dispute letter — all in your browser, with zero-knowledge AES-256 encryption so your credit data never leaves your machine.

See plans and pricing → · How to dispute your whole credit report →

Frequently asked questions

How long does a collection stay on your credit report? Seven years plus 180 days from the date of first delinquency on the original account — not the date the collector acquired the debt, and not reset by a partial payment or settlement.

Does paying off a charge-off or collection make it come off sooner? No. Paying updates the status (to "paid" or "settled") but does not shorten the reporting window, which stays fixed to the original date of first delinquency.

Do tax liens still show up on credit reports? No — as of April 2018, all tax liens (and, since 2017, all civil judgments) were removed from the three bureaus' consumer credit reports under the National Consumer Assistance Plan. They remain public record elsewhere but should not appear as a credit-report tradeline today.

How long do medical collections stay on a credit report? Under current bureau policy (not federal law), unpaid medical collections under $500 are not reported at all, and bureaus wait one year before reporting any medical collection. Once reported, it follows the standard 7-year, DOFD-based clock; paid medical collections are removed.

What if a negative item is still showing after its reporting window should have ended? That is an FCRA inaccuracy — an item reporting past its statutory window is disputable regardless of whether the original debt was legitimate. Document the dates and send a dispute to the bureau.

Related reading

• What is a charge-off? — the 7-year + 180-day DOFD rule explained in depth
• Does paying collections help your credit? — why paying doesn't reset the clock
• How to dispute hard inquiries — the 2-year window and what's actually disputable
• How to rebuild credit after bankruptcy — what comes next once the clock is running
• The FCRA 30-day rule — how the reinvestigation clock works once you dispute
• Bureau dispute letter (§611) — the core accuracy-dispute letter