Our team just ran across some very interesting information on Experian’s website. We thought it would be helpful to anyone interested in how long derogatory debt information is reported. A brief summary:
Because your credit report is a history, paying off a debt does not cause it (negative information) to be deleted. State and Federal laws specify how long negative information can remain in your history. When the required time period passes, it will be deleted automatically. You don’t have to do anything.
If the account is closed and has no negative information in its history it will remain for 10 years from the date it was closed. If there is negative information in the account history it will be deleted no later than seven years from the original delinquency date. The original delinquency date is the date the account first became late and after which was never again current.
If the account is open, it could remain on your credit report forever. Open, active accounts can remain on your report indefinitely. However, any record of late payments will be deleted after seven years, leaving only at the positive payment history.
If you would like to check out the full article, please visit Experian’s website at www.experian.com or better yet, here is the link to the article itself: http://www.experian.com/ask-experian/20110720-paid-debt-not-deleted-immediately-documentation-not-necessary-for-removal.html
Team Aalto at Advantage Mortgage 