The 7-year rule: when late payments, collections, and bankruptcies must fall off your credit report
Federal law sets an expiration date for almost every negative item on your credit report: 7 years from the first missed payment for late payments, charge-offs, and collections; 10 years for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. How to find the real date, spot illegal "re-aging" by collectors, and get expired items deleted in 30 days.
- Late payments, charge-offs, collections, repossessions, foreclosures, and settled accounts: off the report 7 years after the date of first delinquency (the first missed payment that was never brought current). Paying a collection later does not restart the clock.
- Chapter 7 bankruptcy: 10 years from filing. Chapter 13: 7 years. Paid tax liens and civil judgments: no longer reported at all since 2017–2018.
- Hard inquiries: 2 years. Closed accounts in good standing: up to 10 years (and they help you).
- Collectors sometimes report a newer "date opened" or "date of last activity" to keep a debt alive. That's re-aging, illegal under the FCRA and FDCPA, and it's worth statutory damages.
- Expired items are removed with a standard dispute: cite the date of first delinquency and demand deletion.
How to find the real clock
The date that matters is the date of first delinquency (DOFD) on the original account: the month of the first payment you missed and never caught up on. If you missed a payment in March 2019 and the account was charged off in September 2019 and sold to a collector in 2021, the collection must come off in March 2026, regardless of when the collector bought it or last called you.
Where to find it: the original creditor's tradeline on your report ("date of first delinquency" or "first reported delinquency"); the collector's tradeline should show the same DOFD. Old statements and letters also show when you stopped paying. Bureaus are required to remove collections 7 years plus 180 days after the DOFD at the latest.
Re-aging: the illegal trick to watch for
A collection account that shows a "date opened" of 2024 for a debt you stopped paying in 2018 is being re-aged. It happens when a debt is sold and the new owner reports its purchase date as if it were the delinquency date. Both the FCRA (furnishers must report accurate DOFD) and the FDCPA (false representation of a debt's status) prohibit it. Dispute with the bureau and the collector, attach proof of the original delinquency, and if it isn't corrected, an FCRA/FDCPA attorney will usually take the case on contingency (statutory damages up to $1,000 plus fees).
Getting expired items deleted
- List each negative item with its DOFD from the original creditor's tradeline.
- For anything past 7 years (10 for Chapter 7), send a dispute to each bureau: "This item's date of first delinquency was [month/year], more than seven years ago. Under FCRA §605(a) it is obsolete and must be deleted." Use the dispute letter template.
- Certified mail, copies of proof, 30-day clock.
- Not deleted → CFPB complaint (bureaus respond in 15 days), then an attorney.
The 7-year rule is not the statute of limitations
Two different clocks:
- Reporting (FCRA): 7 years, federal, same everywhere.
- Suing you (state statute of limitations): typically 3–6 years for credit cards, up to 10–15 in a few states, from the last payment or activity. A debt can be off your report and still be suable in a long-limitation state, or on your report and time-barred. Never make a "good faith" payment on an old debt without checking your state's limit: in many states a payment or a written promise restarts the limitations clock. See debt collector violations and time-barred debt.
FAQ
I paid a collection last year. Does it stay 7 more years?
No. It stays until 7 years from the original DOFD; paying doesn't extend it. It should also update to "paid", and if it's medical it should be deleted entirely.
A collector says the debt will "never come off" until I pay
False, and a false statement about a debt's legal status is an FDCPA violation. Log the call.
My closed student loan shows late payments from 2017
Federal student loans follow the same 7-year rule for late payments. Defaulted federal loans that are rehabilitated get the default removed.
What about a charge-off that was sold three times?
Every collector's tradeline must show the same original DOFD; all come off on the same date. Only one collector may report a balance at a time.