Thank you for your inquiry to CreditLearningCenter.com's Help Center. Regarding your question "how long a reporting credit bureau is supposed to keep records", here is our response.
Personal Information (name, address, date of birth, etc.) and positive information (payment records and account history) will typically remain on your credit reports indefinitely. There is no pre-determined time of expiration for personal information and positive information.
Federal law requires that most negative information be removed from your credit reports after seven years, but there are different categories of "negative information" to consider:
Credit Inquiries: Up to 2 Years
Closed Accounts: 7 Years (No expiration if the account was free of negative information)
Charge-offs: 7 years
Late Payment Records: 7 years from the date of the most recent payment
Judgments: 7 years from the date of filing
Bankruptcy: 10 years (Chapter 7, 11, and 12), and 7 years for Chapter 13 (bankruptcy where you pay back all or part of your indebtedness under a court-approved payment program)
Tax Liens: 7 years from the date the lien is paid, or 15 years for unpaid tax liens.
Collections: 7 years from the date of the most recent payment on the original account.
We hope this information has been helpful to you. We would also encourage you to contact one or more of the three major credit bureaus should you desire more information:
Marcy, we congratulate you for taking charge of your credit. We believe this is a very important step you can take to help secure your financial future.
Here's wishing you get the most out of your credit and the most out of your life!
Personal Information (name, address, date of birth, etc.) and positive information (payment records and account history) will typically remain on your credit reports indefinitely. There is no pre-determined time of expiration for personal information and positive information.
Federal law requires that most negative information be removed from your credit reports after seven years, but there are different categories of "negative information" to consider:
Credit Inquiries: Up to 2 Years
Closed Accounts: 7 Years (No expiration if the account was free of negative information)
Charge-offs: 7 years
Late Payment Records: 7 years from the date of the most recent payment
Judgments: 7 years from the date of filing
Bankruptcy: 10 years (Chapter 7, 11, and 12), and 7 years for Chapter 13 (bankruptcy where you pay back all or part of your indebtedness under a court-approved payment program)
Tax Liens: 7 years from the date the lien is paid, or 15 years for unpaid tax liens.
Collections: 7 years from the date of the most recent payment on the original account.
We hope this information has been helpful to you. We would also encourage you to contact one or more of the three major credit bureaus should you desire more information:
Equifax
P.O. Box 105873
Atlanta, GA 30348
http://www.equifax.com
(800) 685-1111
TransUnion
Consumer Disclosure Center
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
http://www.transunion.com
(800) 916-8800 or (800) 888-4213
Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-2104
http://www.experian.com
(888) 397-3742
Marcy, we congratulate you for taking charge of your credit. We believe this is a very important step you can take to help secure your financial future.
Here's wishing you get the most out of your credit and the most out of your life!
Sincerely,
CLC Help Center Cuistomer Care