Your credit report chronicles how you pay bills, where you choose to live, any arrests, or if you have ever declared bankruptcy. Consumer advocates suggest that you review your credit report at least once a year to ensure that the information is correct. Your credit report determines your mortgage rates, your ability to rent an apartment or buy a car. Changing any incorrect information is vital for your credit history

Duration

Bankruptcy information stays on your report for 10 years. Lawsuits or judgments against you stay on your report for seven years unless there is a statute of limitations. If you defaulted on your student loans, that will stay for seven years. Tax liens stay for seven years from the date it was paid. Applying for life insurance for more than $50,000 stays indefinitely on your report. Any information due to a job with a salary of more than $20,000 has no limitation. Late payments that go into collection start reporting then, not when you made the last payment. Criminal arrests can stay indefinitely.

Delete These

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act section 605 of the FCRA, the following items speak to the reporting-time period allowed--bankruptcy that is older than 10 years; and civil suits, civil judgments and records of arrest older than seven years. Tax liens that are older than seven years are no longer supposed to show on your credit report. Accounts charged off or placed for collection that are older than seven years should not be showing. Conviction of crimes that are more than seven years old may not show on your credit report.

Tips

You are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three report companies, by contacting annualcreditreport.com. Beware of any companies that send you an email asking for personal information--those are paid sites, do not reply. To get your report, you will need your Social Security number, your date of birth and your address. Protecting yourself from identity theft is another reason to get a copy of your credit report. If your credit report is keeping your account active to keep information on you, this needs challenging. It is not allowed. Even if you are paying on a collection, it does not mean that it can stay on your credit report for a longer period.

Source:

Credit Info Center

Debt Help

Federal Trade Commission

Resource:

Miami Herald

Home Buying Institute

Fair Credit Reporting Act