How Long Does a Collection Stay on Your Credit History
Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, most collection accounts remain on a credit report for seven years. The seven-year period generally begins 180 days after the original delinquency that led to the collection, not the date the collection agency acquired the debt.
Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), most collection accounts remain on a consumer credit report for seven years. The seven-year period generally starts 180 days after the date of first delinquency on the original account. That date is when the account became delinquent and was never brought current. It is not the date the collection agency first reported the debt, nor the date a consumer last made a payment. The original creditor may report a charge-off, and a collection agency may separately report the same debt. Both entries are subject to the same seven-year limit.
The reporting period is not reset by payments, settlements, or the sale of the debt. If a consumer pays a collection account in full or settles it for less, the account does not disappear from the credit report. The status may be updated to show a zero balance, but the collection remains for the remainder of the seven-year period. Similarly, when a collection agency sells or transfers the debt to another agency, the new agency cannot restart the clock. The FCRA ties the reporting period to the original delinquency date, not to later collection activity.
Some collection-related items have different reporting periods. If a creditor or debt collector obtains a court judgment based on the debt, the judgment itself may be reported for seven years from the date the judgment was entered, depending on state law. A bankruptcy filing can also affect reporting times: a Chapter 7 bankruptcy may be reported for ten years, while a Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be reported for seven years. These timeframes come from the FCRA and are separate from the seven-year period for the underlying collection account.
Consumers can check the date of first delinquency by reviewing their credit reports from the three national credit reporting companies. Free reports are available at AnnualCreditReport.com. If a collection account appears with an incorrect date or is reported beyond the seven-year period, the FCRA gives consumers the right to dispute the information with the credit reporting company and, in some cases, with the furnisher of the information. The credit reporting company must investigate disputes, usually within thirty days. The reporting period is separate from the statute of limitations, which is set by state law and governs how long a debt can be enforced in court.