Credit glossary
Adverse information
Negative information on a credit report, such as late payments, collections, charge-offs, foreclosures or bankruptcies.
Federal law sets how long adverse information can be reported. Most of it, including late payments and accounts placed for collection or charged off, can stay seven years, with collections and charge-offs measured from 180 days after the delinquency began. Bankruptcies can stay up to ten years. Those limits don't apply to reports for credit transactions of $150,000 or more.
The time limits are why accurate negatives eventually disappear without any dispute, and their weight fades well before they go. Adverse information that's inaccurate, incomplete or past its legal limit should be disputed with proof. Accurate information still inside the limit is history to outgrow with new on-time payments and low balances.
Guides that go deeper
- How long late payments stay on your credit report, with the date mathLate payments can be reported for up to seven years, and paying the account doesn't shorten that. Which date starts the clock, and how to find yours.
- The date of first delinquency and the 7-year reporting clockThe date of first delinquency decides when a collection or charge-off must leave your report. Here is the 180-day rule and how to compute your own date.
- What not to dispute on your credit report before a mortgageDisputing accurate items rarely helps, and open disputes can stall a mortgage. How Fannie Mae and FHA treat disputed accounts, and what to do instead.
Sources
- 15 U.S.C. 1681c: Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- How long does negative information remain on my credit report?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Payment History and Your FICO Score, myFICO
This is education, not legal or financial advice. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.