How long does a unpaid debt stay on your credit report before it is written off?

3 Comments

1. hmc121667 says:

   October 31, 2011 at 4:49 pm

   7 years and it does affect your overall credit score. Lenders, specially for a car of a house will consider and use that information against your application.
2. NicNac says:

   October 31, 2011 at 5:07 pm

   Derogatory info remains on a person’s credit report anywhere from 7-10 yrs as long as no additional activity is noted by the creditor, such as an attempt to collect. A write off may affect you even if you have a high score because potential creditors and/or lenders may look at it negatively. They may think you’re a credit risk because you wrote off your debt for a lower amount than what you truly were responsible to pay. Hope this helps!
3. robert495713 says:

   October 31, 2011 at 5:21 pm

   The debt is actually “written off” by the company you owe the money to. The credit bureau will list it as a “charged off debt” or “profit & loss” or “collection”. This will stay on your credit report for 7 years.

   The 7 year time clock starts ticking from the date of last activity. If you wait 5 years and make a payment on it, the time clock starts over again. The best solution, if you can negotiate it, is to pay off the debt and get the company to “delete” it from your credit report altogether. Many times they are happy to delete it in exchange for collecting money on an account they didn’t expect to get paid on.

   The effect on your credit score is less and less as the 7 years pass. After a couple years, your score will start coming back up as long as there has been nothing else bad during that time. After the 7 years is up, you will need to make sure it has dropped off your credit report. I am not giving legal advice, just sharing some knowledge I’ve learned in my 7 years of loan experience.