How long can a credit card company stay on your credit report? I opened the accounts in 1997???
I’m a little concerned and confused. I’ve been trying to sort out my debt and went online to get my credit report on Trans Union and I see credit cards on there from 1997 and 1998. When do these drop off? I’m trying really hard to get back on track here. My twin sister opened the same credit cards when we were young and stupid and she decided to file bankrupsy a couple years ago. Her credit is back on track and mine is still horrible, and she had way more debt than me. I’m thinking I should’ve taken the easy way out like she did. She can get new credit cards now and everything and I can’t even open a bank account at Bank of America! It’s embarrassing. It all started when we started college and they offered us credit cards at 18 yrs old. What 18 yr old wouldn’t be thrilled to have what we thought at the time was “free money”? Anyways if anyone can also let me know what banks in New England would accept someone with not so good credit. I’m moving there in a couple months.
Well first we need to correct some people here as they obviously do not understand what they are talking about.
Dan – There most certainly IS a statue of limitations on debt. This is the length of time a creditor can legally sue someone to collect the debt. Once the SoL has passed the debtor no longer has a legal obligation to repay the debt.
Here is the link listing the statue of limitations.
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml
Stephen – The 7 year reporting period actually begins with the delinquency that triggered the default or “charge off” and this cannot be reset at all.
Bdancer – For like the hundreth time, it’s 7 years, not 7 1/2. This is clearly outlined in the FCRA.
Satin360 – You actually gave a good answer and I just wanted to correct one thing. Those companies that cost so much money do what is called debt validation and can easily be done on your own. You can check out the links in my profile for more information.
I was going to address the question but I see Sunflow has actually beaten me to it and given a great answer. Bravo for her!