What If It's Been Over Eight Years and Bad Credit Is Still on Your Report?

Credit scores are important to consumers and play a large role on a consumer's future financial future. Review your credit reports carefully to ensure everything is reported accurately. Bad credit must be reporting according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This includes creditors only reporting bad information for a maximum of seven years. Bad credit on your report more than eight years requires special attention.

Credit Report

Your credit report houses information on how you have handled your finances. The credit bureaus both raise and lower your credit score based on specific criteria such as: amount of credit, payment history, age of credit file, new credit, and types of credit. The lower your credit score is, you may be denied credit, limited in credit or pay higher monthly payments and interest. Bad credit can also result in denial of a job opportunity, renting an apartment and even insurance. It is important to review your credit report regularly to ensure bad credit is removed in a timely manner and that all of the information reporting on your credit report is complete and accurate.

Bad Credit

Late payments, judgments, bankruptcies, collections, and repossessions are things that can be reported to your credit report by a creditor. All of these items will damage your credit score to varying degrees. Federal law, however, limits the amount of time a creditor can report negative information on your credit report. All debt, excluding bankruptcy, can only remain on your credit report for a period of seven years from the date of first delinquency. Review each item on your credit report to determine if the bad credit that has been reported for over eight years is related to a bankruptcy. Make a list of all entries on your credit report that are over eight years old but are not related to a bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is the only debt that can remain on your credit report for more than seven years. Bankruptcy can remain on your credit report for up to 10 years. You must allow the 10 years to pass before you can dispute the bankruptcy, and ask the credit agencies to remove the bankruptcy from your credit report. Having these entries on your credit report, at the eight-year mark, is not an error and the entries will remain on your credit report.

Credit Dispute

The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows consumers to dispute any inaccurate reporting on credit reports. Any negative information on your credit report more than seven years old can be disputed and removed from your credit report, except for bankruptcies. To file a credit dispute for the bad credit entries still on your report after eight years, order a copy of your credit report, and either mail a letter to the credit agency, call the credit agency or complete a dispute online. Contact numbers, websites and addresses will be included on your credit report. The credit agency will initiate an investigation and has 30 days to correct any issues on your credit report.