Common Questions
Does the law say negative information has to stay on my credit report for seven years?
No, there is no law that says negative information has to stay on a credit report for seven years. In fact, the following piece of legislation - Page 18817 Federal Register I Vol. 55, No.87 I Friday, May 4, 1990 I Rules and Regulations Section 605(a) Favorable Information - imposes no time restriction on reporting of information that is not adverse.
The act also says under the Use of Shorter Periods section, that consumer reporting agencies are not required to report adverse information for the time periods set forth, but they are prohibited from reporting adverse items beyond those time periods. In other words, except for bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments and a few other exceptions, negative information is not to be reported for more than seven years.