The 7-Year Rule: How Long Negative Items Can Legally Stay

Where the clock starts

For most negative items — collections, charge-offs, late payments, repossessions, foreclosures — the FCRA sets a 7-year reporting limit measured from the Date of First Delinquency (DOFD): the date the account first became late and was never brought current again. Not the date it was charged off, not the date it was sold to a collector, not today's date. The original delinquency.

Chapter 7 bankruptcies get a longer window: 10 years from the filing date. Chapter 13 generally follows the same 7-year measure as other negative items.

Why this trips people up

Paying off a collection doesn't reset the clock. Neither does a debt being sold to a new collector — the DOFD is supposed to travel with the account, not reset when it changes hands. If you see the same old debt reappear with a fresh, more recent date after it's sold, that's exactly the kind of inconsistency worth flagging.

What this looks like on your plan

When an item on your report is past its 7-year (or 10-year, for Ch. 7) limit, it should have been removed automatically — bureaus are supposed to purge these on their own. When they don't, this is one of the more clear-cut challenges: the reporting law doesn't leave room for judgment calls once the date has passed.