A Poor Credit Report - How Long Must You Live With It?
In a perfect world, none of us would ever face credit problems, but we don’t live in a perfect world, so if you have poor credit how long will you have to live with it?
The phrase statute of limitations is misunderstood far too often when it comes to your credit report. This is simply not what it seems when it comes to your credit report. It actually has nothing to do with the negatives on your credit report and a lot more to do with when the right to sue you ends.
There is one exception to statute of limitations and your credit report, and that is seven years, which is when the majority of unpaid debts will fall off your credit report. But this isn’t always the case. How the statute of limitation is executed depends on the state and the company holding the debt, and how they record it. Errors occur which can cause the statute of limitations to be calculated incorrectly.
There are federal laws to protect you but the law does change regularly so if you have a debt that could fall under the statute, you will want to review the law for yourself. For the most part either at seven years or 10 years from the first reporting of delinquency the debt must fall off your credit report.
A debt counselor or debt management company may have services that you can benefit from. It’s a good idea to contact either one and make an appointment to discuss your financial problems and perhaps begin to rebuild your poor credit score. They can also help you decide whether bankruptcy is your only option.
Why the different terms in years? That’s because certain terms apply to specific debts. For example seven year limits are applicable to criminal suits, civil suits, and charge-offs for uncollected debts.
The 10-year limit applies to information pertaining to bankruptcy and criminal arrests. There are actually a few occurrences such as fraudulent credit, fraudulent job applications or fraudulent insurance applications where there is no statute of limitations.
If your credit report is suffering from some recorded delinquencies, you will need to live with it. However in today’s economic times there are lenders that don’t care about your credit report as much as they do about your job stability or assets, so don’t fret. Your poor credit report will eventually disappear, but remember, a credit counselor or debt management company might be just what you need until then.
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