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Consumers working to clean up their credit reports often run into the issue of outdated negative items lingering on their credit history. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) – specifically 15 U.S.C. § 1681c – sets strict rules for how long negative information can remain on consumer reports from companies like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. In this post, we’ll explain in plain language how long different types of negative information may legally stay on your credit report, what counts as an “outdated” item, and how to spot and dispute items that should have aged off. We’ll also clarify the difference between a legitimate account aging off versus illegal account re-aging, and caution you about improper reporting practices. Finally, we’ll include practical tips on obtaining your free credit reports (via AnnualCreditReport.com) and disputing obsolete items under the FCRA.

What Are “Outdated” Negative Items on a Credit Report?

“Outdated negative items” are derogatory marks on your credit report that have exceeded the maximum time they are allowed to be reported under law. The FCRA defines how long negative information may be included in consumer credit reports, generally 7 years for most types of debts and 10 years for bankruptcies (although some consumer reporting agencies voluntarily stop reporting certain bankruptcies after 7 years). After those periods, the information is considered “obsolete” and must be removed from your credit file. In other words, if a black mark on your credit is older than the allowed reporting window, it’s outdated and it should no longer appear on your credit reports or affect your credit score.

Why do these time limits exist? The idea is that old negatives shouldn’t haunt you forever. As time passes (and assuming you’ve improved your financial habits), an aging debt or delinquency becomes less predictive of your creditworthiness. The law gives consumers a fresh start by limiting how long past mistakes follow you. If a negative item is still sitting on your report past the allowed time frame, you have the right to get it removed.

How Long Can Negative Items Stay on Your Credit Report?

Under the FCRA, each type of negative information has a time limit for reporting. Here’s a breakdown of how long different negative items can legally remain on your credit report before they must fall off as outdated:

• Most Debts and Late Payments – 7 Years: For typical negative marks like late credit card payments, loan defaults, and other delinquencies, the limit is generally 7 years. In plain terms, a late payment should not show up on your credit report more than seven years after the date you first missed the payment that led to the negative status. After seven years, such adverse information must be purged from your reports by law.
• Collection Accounts & Charge-Offs – 7 Years + 180 Days: Some debts get a slight extension in how the clock is calculated. If an account was placed for collection or charged off (marked as a loss by the lender), the 7-year period doesn’t start immediately at the first missed payment. Instead, the FCRA says the 7-year clock begins 180 days after the date of the original delinquency that led to the collection or charge-off. This effectively gives about 7½ years from the initial missed payment before the collection or charge-off must be removed. The extra 180 days accounts for the grace period you might have had before the creditor took an action like charging off the debt or sending it to collections. In short, a collection account can stay on your report for up to 7 years plus 180 days from when you first fell behind, but no longer. After that, it’s obsolete.
• Bankruptcies – Up to 10 Years (Chapter 7 vs. Chapter 13): Bankruptcy filings are public records that can appear on credit reports for a longer period than most debts. Under the FCRA, any bankruptcy case can be reported for up to 10 years from the date you filed. This 10-year limit applies to all cases under Title 11 of the U.S. Code (which covers Chapter 7, Chapter 13, etc.). However, there’s a nuance in practice: the major credit bureaus typically remove completed Chapter 13 bankruptcies after 7 years as a policy, since in Chapter 13 you repay some of your debt over time. In contrast, Chapter 7 bankruptcies (liquidations) usually remain for the full 10 years from the filing date. Either way, by law no bankruptcy can appear longer than ten years. So, if it’s been over a decade since you filed a bankruptcy, that record should no longer be on your credit report.
• Debts Discharged in Bankruptcy – 7 to 7 ½ Years from Filing Date (at the absolute latest): Each account included in the bankruptcy is still a negative item (it typically notes “Included in Chapter 7 bankruptcy” or “Included in Chapter 13” on your report). If the account wasn’t already delinquent prior to bankruptcy, the discharged debt should be removed within 7 years from the bankruptcy filing date. In other words, if you had an account that was current until you filed bankruptcy, the act of that debt being discharged is treated as an adverse event starting at the bankruptcy filing date, and it can be listed for up to seven years from bankruptcy petition filing date. If the account was delinquent before bankruptcy, it would typically fall off 7 years from the original delinquency, which is often significantly earlier than 7 years from the bankruptcy filing. The key takeaway: the bankruptcy public record may last up to 10 years, but the individual debts included in the bankruptcy still have to follow the “normal” timeframes for when they fall off (and they cannot be reported longer than the “normal” timeframes just because of a bankruptcy).
• Civil Suits, Judgments, and Arrest Records – 7 Years (or Longer if Statute of Limitations): Records of civil lawsuits, civil money judgments, and even arrest records or indictments can appear on a credit report for 7 years from the “date of entry”. However, if the statute of limitations (SOL) for that item is longer than 7 years under state law, the FCRA allows the record to be reported for the longer period. Important: In practice, as of recent years the three major credit bureaus have stopped reporting civil judgments and arrest records on standard credit reports due to accuracy issues. But if you do see an old lawsuit or judgment on a report, know that the general rule is 7 years, unless a longer legal time limit applies. If it’s older than that (or past the SOL), it’s outdated and shouldn’t be there. Contact us if you have questions about the accuracy of an old civil suit or judgment reporting on your credit.
• Tax Liens – 7 Years if Paid (No Limit if Unpaid): Tax liens used to be a common public record on credit reports. The FCRA distinguishes between paid and unpaid tax liens. Paid tax liens (meaning you fully paid off the lien) could only be reported for up to 7 years from the date of payment. The time limit for unpaid tax liens is a bit tricker, but unpaid tax liens should be subject to the FCRA’s catch-all prohibition of “any other adverse item of information” that is older than 7 years.
• Criminal Records of Convictions – No Time Limit (Indefinite): Records of criminal convictions are not subject to the FCRA’s 7-year rule. The law specifically exempts criminal convictions from the general time limits on reporting. This means, in theory, a conviction could be reported on a consumer report indefinitely. However, traditional credit reports from the big three bureaus typically do not include criminal records at all (convictions usually show up in background check reports for employment or tenant screening, which are different than the reports typically provided by Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union). The main point is that, unlike other negative items of information, a criminal conviction isn’t required to drop off after seven years. So if a conviction does appear on some type of consumer report, the FCRA doesn’t cap its reporting period.

As you can see, most negative items on a credit-report have a 7-year shelf life, with a few specific scenarios stretching longer (or shorter). Once these time frames pass, the information should be deleted from your credit history. Any lingering negative item beyond its allowed date is officially obsolete.

Tip: The clock for most negative items usually starts from the date of the initial delinquency or event. It does not reset if a debt is sold to a new collection agency or if you make a partial payment (though certain actions, like bringing an account current, could affect how it’s reported). Always note the date of first delinquency or the date filed for public records – that’s the reference point for the time limit.

Account Re-Aging vs. Outdated Information: Know the Difference

It’s important to distinguish between a debt simply aging off your report versus illegal “re-aging” of an account. Account re-aging in the negative sense refers to a deceptive practice where a creditor or debt collector inaccurately changes the date of first delinquency on a debt to make it appear newer than it really is. By falsifying that start date, they re-start the clock on how long the account stays on your report, causing a debt that should have been removed to linger longer. This is illegal and it violates the FCRA’s requirement that negative items only be reported for a certain time period.

Outdated (obsolete) item vs. re-aged item in plain terms:

• An outdated (obsolete) negative item is one that genuinely passed the 7-year (or 10-year) limit and should have fallen off. There’s no ambiguity – by date alone, it shouldn’t be there. For example, a collection account from 8 years ago is obsolete and should not be reporting.
• A re-aged item might appear newer on the report than it truly is. For instance, say you had a credit card charge-off from 7½ years ago (which should be coming off soon). If a debt buyer reports it but misstates the date of first delinquency, your report could now show the account as if it became delinquent more recently, thus keeping it on your file past the legal limit. The account in that case isn’t just “outdated” – it’s been fraudulently updated to look current. This re-aging abuse is a serious FCRA violation.

How to spot re-aging: Check the dates on any questionable account. The key date is usually labeled as “Date of First Delinquency” or the date the account first went bad. That date should never change, no matter who owns the debt. If you see a collection account with a “reported since” or “opened” date much later than when you actually defaulted, or a last activity date that doesn’t align with your memory of when you fell behind, it could be a sign of improper re-aging. Also, the original delinquency date (if listed) should correspond to when you first missed a payment with the original creditor – not when the debt collector took over.

Why re-aging happens: Sadly, some debt collectors try to game the system. They know a stale debt will drop off soon, so they illegally extend its life on your credit to pressure you into paying. By making the debt look new, they can hurt your credit score longer and use that as leverage for collection. This is explicitly against the law. The FCRA (and its implementing rules) require that a collection agency must report the correct original delinquency date (typically obtained from the original creditor). They cannot lawfully reset the clock even if the account is sold or transferred.

Bottom line: Re-aging is not “giving you more time to pay” – it’s giving the debt more time to damage your credit, which is illegal. If an account should have aged off but is instead showing a newer date, you should take action to dispute it. You have the right to get it corrected, and we can help.

Cleaning Up Your Report: Spotting and Disputing Outdated Items

Cleaning up your credit report involves reviewing your reports regularly, catching any outdated negative entries, and using your rights under the FCRA to dispute and remove them. Here are some practical steps and tips for consumers:

1. Request Your Free Credit Reports

To find outdated items, you’ll need to see what’s on your credit reports from all three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). The good news is that you can get your reports for free. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com – this is the only official site for no-strings-attached free credit reports. By law, you’re entitled to a free report from each bureau every 12 months. As of recent updates, the bureaus have even made free online reports available weekly on that site, so you can pull your reports frequently at no cost. (Avoid any look-alike “free credit report” websites that ask for a credit card or try to sell you extras – stick with the official AnnualCreditReport.com.)

Tip: When you request your report online, be prepared to answer some identity verification questions. You can also request your reports via mail or phone if you prefer. Getting all three reports is important because not all creditors report to every bureau, and an outdated item might appear on one and not the others. Check all three to be thorough.

2. Review Negative Items and Spot the Outliers

Once you have your credit reports, scrutinize the section that lists negative information (often called “Derogatory” or “Negative Accounts” and “Public Records”). For each negative entry, find the date associated with the negative event:

• For late payments or charge-offs: note the date of the delinquency or charge-off.
• For collection accounts: find the original delinquency date (sometimes the report will list something like “Date of First Delinquency” or the date the account was first placed for collection).
• For public records like bankruptcies: look at the filing date.
• For judgments or liens (if any): note the filing date and whether it’s paid/released (for liens).

Now, calculate how long it’s been since those dates. Compare each item against the limits we outlined:

• Over 7 years ago for most debts, collections, late payments.
• Over 7.5 years since the original default for any collection/charge-off (to account for the 180-day rule).
• Over 10 years for any bankruptcy case.
• Over 7 years for any lawsuit/judgment (unless you know the state SOL is longer).
• Over 7 years since a paid tax lien was paid (again, these shouldn’t really show up anymore, but just in case).

If you spot any negative item that exceeds the allowed age, highlight it. These are the outdated items you’ll want to address. For example, if your report shows a collection account from a cell phone bill that went delinquent 8 years ago, that’s a clear candidate for removal as obsolete. Or if it’s mid-2025 and you still see a late payment from early 2018, that late mark has likely passed the 7-year mark and should be gone.

Also keep an eye out for any item that seems to have conflicting dates or looks re-aged. If an account’s dates don’t make sense (e.g., a collection that shows a “opened” date just 2 years ago but you know the debt is from 8 years ago), mark that as well. It might be outdated and possibly re-aged. Either way, the dispute process is similar.

3. Dispute Outdated Negative Items Under the FCRA

The FCRA gives you the right to dispute any inaccurate or incomplete information on your credit report, and this includes information that is no longer legally allowed to be reported. If you found an item that is older than the permissible reporting period, you should file a dispute with the credit bureau that’s reporting it.

Call Consumer Litigation Associates today at 757-930-3660, or click here for a free case review. Our attorneys will evaluate your situation at no cost and advise you on the best steps to fix your credit file. If the credit bureaus have violated your rights, we can assist you in seeking remedies under the law. Time is of the essence – every moment that wrong information remains on your report could be damaging your financial future. Contact us now to get expert help with credit reporting errors and reclaim control of your credit.

• Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 S.C. § 1681c (2018).
• Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(c)(1) (2018).
• Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(A) (2018).
• Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681s‑2(a)(5) (2018).
• Press Release: Equifax Inc., Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Extend Free Weekly Credit Reports in the U.S. Through 2023 (Sept. 23, 2022),
• Colleen Tressler, You Now Have Permanent Access to Free Weekly Credit Reports, Fed. Trade Comm’n Consumer Advice (Oct. 13, 2023),
• Trade Comm’n, Free Credit Reports, Consumer Advice (updated Oct. 13, 2023),
• Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, If a Credit Reporting Error Is Corrected, How Long Will It Take Before I Find Out the Results? (last reviewed Sept. 1, 2020, rev. June 6, 2023),
• Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, How Do I Dispute an Error on My Credit Report? (last reviewed Dec. 12, 2024),
• com, Request Your Free Credit Reports (last visited June 24, 2025),

Legal Disclaimer: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes. If you have questions about your specific situation, contact Consumer Litigation Associates for more information or assistance (757) 930-3660.