How long negative items stay on your credit report

In this guide

The legal limits, item by item
A worked example of the clock
Medical debt: the rule that was vacated
Paying an old item: what it does and does not do
The limit is not the same as the damage
What to do
Frequently asked questions
Sources

Most negative information can be reported for seven years. Bankruptcies can stay up to ten, and judgments run seven years or until the statute of limitations expires, whichever is longer (CFPB). For collections and charge-offs, the law starts the seven years 180 days after the delinquency began, so the item can last about seven and a half years from the first missed payment (15 U.S.C. 1681c).

Longest an item can be reported

Source: 15 U.S.C. 1681c and CFPB. Collections and charge-offs: 7 years plus the 180-day start delay. Judgments: 7 years or until the statute of limitations expires, whichever is longer, so the bar shows the minimum.

The legal limits, item by item

Item	How long it can be reported	When the clock starts
Late payment	7 years	The date the account first went past due (Experian)
Collection account, charge-off	7 years	180 days after the delinquency began (1681c(a)(4), 1681c(c)(1))
Paid tax lien	7 years	Date of payment (1681c(a)(3))
Civil suit, civil judgment, arrest record	7 years. The CFPB says a judgment can run longer, until the statute of limitations ends.	Date of entry (1681c(a)(2))
Bankruptcy	10 years	Date of the order for relief or adjudication (1681c(a)(1))

The statute has exceptions for large transactions: credit of $150,000 or more, life insurance of $150,000 or more, and jobs paying $75,000 or more are not bound by these limits (1681c(b)). Those apply to a lender or employer pulling a report for that purpose, not to your everyday credit file.

A worked example of the clock

Say a credit card payment due January 15, 2026 is missed and never made up, and the account is charged off. The seven years start 180 days later, on July 14, 2026, so the charge-off can be reported until July 14, 2033. That is seven and a half years after the first missed payment. Paying the debt in 2028 does not change that date. Experian puts it the same way: a collection stays "up to seven years from the debt's original delinquency date" (Experian).

Re-aging is a disputable error. If a collector reports a later delinquency date than the real one, the item stays on your report longer than the law allows. Compare the date on your report with your own records, and dispute a wrong date. The process is in how to get and dispute your free credit reports.

Two people reading through a printed statement together

Medical debt: the rule that was vacated

The CFPB finalized a rule on January 7, 2025 that would have barred medical debt from credit reports used by lenders. On July 11, 2025 a federal court vacated it, holding it exceeded the CFPB's authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (CFPB rule page). It is not in effect, so there is no federal ban on reporting medical debt.

What still applies is the bureaus' own policy. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion announced that (TransUnion newsroom):

Medical collections paid in full are not included on credit reports (since July 1, 2022).
Unpaid medical collections wait one year before they appear, up from six months.
Medical collections with an initial balance under $500 are removed (announced April 2023).

These are company policies, not law, and the bureaus can change them. Medical collections of $500 or more that are unpaid after the one-year wait can still be reported under the seven-year limit above.

Paying an old item: what it does and does not do

It does not reset the clock. The seven years run from the original delinquency.
It can matter to the score model. Experian says recent versions of VantageScore and FICO ignore paid collection accounts, but many lenders use older versions that do not. Experian's table shows VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0 ignore paid collections, and FICO 8, 9 and 10 ignore both paid and unpaid third-party collections under $100.
It may not remove the entry. Paid items generally update to show a paid status and stay for the remaining term.

Mortgage lenders often use older models, which is one reason to settle a collection well before you apply. See what credit score you need for a mortgage.

The limit is not the same as the damage

An item is reportable for seven years, but its weight in a score is not constant. FICO says payment history considers how late payments were, how many there are, and how long ago they happened. Recent late payments hurt more than old ones. I do not have a published figure for how fast the effect fades, so treat any "points back per year" claim as unverified. What you can control is the new data: on-time payments and low reported balances. See what moves your FICO score.

What to do

Pull all three reports and check every negative item's date. Start at the official free report source.
Dispute items that are wrong, including a wrong delinquency date. Do not pay anyone to remove accurate items.
Keep every open account current and balances low. The statement close optimizer shows what to pay before each closing date.
If you plan to apply for a mortgage, check which model the lender uses before deciding whether to pay an old collection.

Frequently asked questions

How long do late payments stay on a credit report?

Seven years from the date the account first went past due. A payment is generally reported as late only once it is 30 days past due.

How long do collections stay on a credit report?

Up to seven years, counted from 180 days after the delinquency began. Paying the collection does not restart or shorten that period.

How long does bankruptcy stay on a credit report?

Up to ten years from the date of the order for relief or adjudication, under 15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)(1).

Is medical debt still reported in 2026?

Yes, in some cases. The CFPB rule that would have banned it was vacated on July 11, 2025, but the three bureaus voluntarily omit paid medical collections and those under $500, and wait one year before reporting unpaid ones.

Can a debt be removed from my report if I pay it?

There is no legal right to removal on payment. A paid item usually stays with a paid status for the remainder of its term.

Can I pay a company to remove accurate negative items?

No service can lawfully shorten the time limits for accurate information. You can dispute inaccurate information yourself for free.

Do hard inquiries stay for seven years too?

No. Inquiries stay on a report for two years and FICO counts them for one. See hard vs. soft credit inquiries.

Sources

15 U.S.C. 1681c, Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Checked October 2026.
How long does negative information stay on my credit report?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Checked October 2026.
CFPB Finalizes Rule to Remove Medical Bills from Credit Reports, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (page notes the July 11, 2025 vacatur). Checked October 2026.
Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Remove Medical Collections Debt Under $500, TransUnion newsroom. Checked October 2026.
How Long Do Collections Stay on Your Credit Report?, Experian. Checked October 2026.
When Do Late Payments Get Reported?, Experian. Checked October 2026.
Payment History, myFICO. Checked October 2026.

How this page was checked. Every figure was checked against the primary sources listed above, most recently on October 7, 2026. Drafting is AI-assisted; the research, the math, and the final edit are done by Teja Pagidimarri. Read the editorial policy, or report an error through the corrections page. This is general information, not personal financial advice.

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Teja Pagidimarri

Teja Pagidimarri built 43dots to answer money questions with numbers you can check. He is a software developer, not a licensed financial advisor, so every guide here is built the way an engineer would: figures pulled from the primary source, math shown in the open, and the calculators built from the actual published formulas.