Understanding Negative Information on Your Credit Report
May 16th, 2009, Written By: Kerri Randall
You’ve been struggling along with everyone else these days, trying to make ends meet, maybe looking for ways to make some extra money, depleting your savings, etc. You’ve done everything you could think of to stay afloat, but despite your best efforts, your money problems got the best of you and now you have a black mark or two on your credit report. It’s going to take time to improve your credit score again, but it will take even longer for these marks to disappear from your report altogether.
The majority of activity, positive or negative, remains on your report for no more than 7 years. Generally the activity will disappear once the account has been closed or paid off. Your credit cards and mortgage will tend to be on your report even longer, though, since they tend to remain open longer.
As far as negative information goes, there are certain black marks that will stay on your report for a set period of time. For example, if you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, that will remain for 10 years, even if you have resolved the other activity on your report that caused you to file bankruptcy in the first place. If you go into foreclosure, that will remain for 7 years. A lawsuit or judgment filed against you will remain for 7 years, or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever one turns out to be longer. If you have unpaid tax liens or you defaulted on your student loan, these can remain on your report indefinitely.
You should not have to contact any credit bureaus or file any requests to have this information removed. All of your activity is coded to disappear automatically once time runs out. It’s still not a bad idea to keep an eye on your history, though, and make sure that your information is correct and current. If you do start to develop a negative history, do your best to start turning it around as soon as possible. Even with black marks on your record, evidence of improvement will help to put you back in good standing.
Categories: Credit Report Dispute
