How Long Does Information Stay on my Equifax Credit Report | Equifax (2024)

FAQs

How Long Does Information Stay on my Equifax Credit Report | Equifax? ›

Remain on your Equifax credit report for up to 7 years from the original delinquency date – the date of the missed payment. The late payment remains even if you pay the past-due balance. Remain on your Equifax credit report for up to 7 years from the date of the first missed payment.

Highlights: Most negative information generally stays on credit reports for 7 years. Bankruptcy stays on your Equifax credit report for 7 to 10 years, depending on the bankruptcy type. Closed accounts paid as agreed stay on your Equifax credit report for up to 10 years.

Lastly, hard inquiries result when a potential lender, creditor or service provider requests a copy of your Equifax credit report in response to a request for credit or certain services. These can remain on your Equifax credit report for 3 years.

Once an account has been settled or defaults it will remain on your report for six years from the date the debt was settled, written off or defaulted, whichever happened first. Live accounts will remain on your Equifax Credit Report indefinitely. Did you find this information helpful?

You can ask Equifax to delete your personal information. Right to Correct: You can ask Equifax to correct any inaccurate personal information.

Closed accounts reported by the lender as paid as agreed can stay on your Equifax credit report for up to 10 years from the date it was reported by the lender to Equifax. Accounts not paid as agreed can remain on your Equifax credit report for up to 7 years.

The R7 rating is a specific code used by credit bureaus to indicate that you have entered into a consumer proposal. This code alerts potential lenders and creditors that you are undergoing a debt settlement process.

If you need to dispute information with the credit bureaus, the fastest way to do so is online. You'll need to file a dispute separately with each credit bureau. You can file a dispute on the following sites: Equifax: www.myequifax.com.

The most likely reason is that, while having used credit most of your life, you probably stopped using credit some time ago. Before the FICO scoring formula can determine your creditworthiness, your credit report must include at least one credit account reported recently to the credit bureau.

How many points will my credit score go up when a default is removed? ›

Your credit score should go up quite a bit once your CCJ is removed from your credit record. However, it is hard to give you a clear estimate on how big your score improvement will be, as credit scores depend on many things. On average, most people see an increase of about 200-250 points.

​​Accurate positive information can remain on your credit report forever but commonly is removed after seven years. Accurate negative information can remain on your credit report for only seven years, with a couple of exceptions. A bankruptcy can remain on your credit report for 10 years.

To get something removed from your credit report, you have to either talk with the lender or creditor directly or file a request for investigation with the credit bureau. It's important to understand that unless something is inaccurate, neither party is required to remove information.

There are other items that cannot be disputed or removed due to their systemic importance. For example, your correct legal name, current and former mailing addresses, and date of birth are usually not up for dispute and won't be removed from your credit reports.

A good first step is to contact the lender or creditor. You can also file a dispute with the credit bureau that furnished the report where the account is listed. To file a dispute with Equifax, you can create a myEquifax account. Visit our dispute page to learn other ways you can submit a dispute.

Getting old credit reports

Because of the way data is updated, there are no 'old versions' of your Credit Report being stored anywhere - it's not as simple as calling up and asking for a copy of your Credit Report from August 1993.

Most negative items should automatically fall off your credit reports seven years from the date of your first missed payment, at which point your credit score may start rising. But if you are otherwise using credit responsibly, your score may rebound to its starting point within three months to six years.

A credit reporting company generally can report most negative information for seven years. Information about a lawsuit or a judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer. Bankruptcies can stay on your report for up to ten years.

All payments you've made during the last two years — on credit cards, loans or bills, whether you paid on time or not. Payments of $150 or more that are overdue by 60 days or more — these stay on your report for five years, even after you've paid them off.