Credit reports – How long is your history maintained?
You are probably not aware that certain information is kept on the records for many, many years after you think that it is no longer relevant. This is why so many people are caught off guard when the see information about a bank account that has been closed for the past 5 or 6 years is still listed on the credit report under the Banking Information section. This is what has led many people to start asking the title question… exactly how long is your credit history maintained or held by the three credit reporting bureaus?
The first thing that we will cover is Your Personal Credit History. You need to know that everything that is a part of your personal credit history is kept on record by the credit bureaus for ten (10) years. This includes all of the names that you are known by, all of the residential addresses and employer’s information that is reported to them about you.
The next thing here is any Inactive and Closed Accounts that you have ever had. The information on these is kept in the records by the bureaus for ten (10) years after the last reported activity on those accounts. There is nothing to be concerned about if you have closed any account because you have fully repaid the loan or no longer need or want the account; the trouble comes in if any account was closed due to being inactive or delinquent too often.
If you have late payments that are on your credit report or collections accounts, these show up as Derogatory Accounts on your credit report. The credit bureaus are required to keep information about them in your records for seven (7) years from the date that the account went into default status.
If you are ordered to pay damages in a lawsuit that has a bearing on your credit standing these Public Records are kept up for seven (7) years from the date that you made the required payment. If you have any unpaid tax liens in your name, those records stay open as long as the tax lien remains unpaid.
The last thing that you need to remember about is a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. This is the very last thing to think about here. The credit bureaus are required by federal law to keep these records for ten (10) years from the exact date that you filed for bankruptcy.
All of this is what many people are not really that aware of. Most think that a Charge-off or a closed account will be dropped off of their credit reports after 3 or 5 years; yet this really is not the case. The credit reporting bureaus are required by Federal Law to keep a;; of this things in their records for between 5 and 10 years after everything has been settled. This really has many people scared that they are going to get denied a car loan or a credit card because they went bankrupt and worked through that process.
