Reply #35: Not for life.... 7 years, tops. (other than bankruptcy)

[Lisa0825]

In most states the Staute of Limitations for debts is 4 years, longer in some. There is no SOL on some debts, like guaranteed student loans. Anyway, after the SOL is past, you have the bargaining power, because they CANNOT win a judgement against you. So you can negotiate on a pay-for-delete for the bad trade lines on your report. No delete, no money. If you don't even want to try to settle, just wait until 7 years goes by from the DOLA (date of last activity) on the account. That is how long most items stay on your credit report, and as they disappear, your score will improve.

Plus, the older they get, the less they matter, even if they are still on your report. So, lets say you had 4 accounts that got charged off 4 years ago, and now you just got a "starter card" to try to rebuild your credit, and you make faithful timely payments for a year. Then you get a second credit line or a mortgage, and you keep up the good habits. Those two recent accounts will carry more weight than the older ones in the special secret algorithm that FICO uses, so your score will begin to improve.

I couldn't recommend this site enough.... www.creditinfocenter.com