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Reader’s Question

I have two negative accounts on my credit report that have been sitting there for a few years. Other than those, my credit report has only accounts that are on time. I have recently started to try and really jump my credit score up and was wondering if these were even worth putting my time and money into fixing, or will these slide off of my account eventually? I have always wondered when exactly the 7 year rule goes into effect. My first account was first reported in March of 2002 and was last reported on in 2007. My second account was first reported in April of 2005 and last reported in May of 2005. Does the 7 years start tolling from the first reporting date or the last?

My Response

Hi [name removed] -
Those two accounts are pretty old and I personally wouldn’t spend a whole lot of time trying to get them removed. They are so old that the impact on your credit is pretty small. I know it feels like an itch that you really want to scratch, but they will be gone in no time. Regarding the 7 year rule: In most cases it all has to do with what is actually being reported –that is, you are looking at 7 years for each negative entry. Therefore, if the first negative entry was reported in March of 2002, you are looking at 7 years for that entry. Each month a negative entry is reported, that entry will remain for 7 years. In other words, don’t look at the account as a whole when attempting to figure out when the account will be removed –look at each individual negative entry associated with that account and figure that that entry will remain for 7 years.

Hope this helps,
-Ryan

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