Yes, debt goes away from your credit report after seven years. No, that doesn’t mean you can get away with not paying your creditor after you hit the mark.
What does the seven-year mark imply?
Every individual has a credit report. You can treat it as a school report. Just like the latter details your information and doings in your academic life, the former is a detailed report about your financial activities and current financial standing. When you take a loan, it is highlighted as a negative item in your credit report and therefore adversely effects it and your credit score.After seven years, a negative item like a loan will go away from your credit report, regardless of whether you have cleared your dues with your creditor. Does this mean that the actual debt has been erased from existence? No. You still need to pay your creditor, and they can make use of a commercial debt company or collector to collect the money from you. If you don’t make timely payments, creditors are free to resort to an array of legal channels and procedures. This includes sending your letter or cutting your wages. In case the state’s statute of limitation has expired, you might also get sued for non-repayment!
Benefits of the seven-year mark
While your debt doesn’t necessarily go away after seven years, there are three significant benefits associated with this phenomenon. It includes the following:
Improved credit score
Let’s say; you still owe your creditor money after seven years. One thing that it will do is reduce the chances of you getting new loans. This is because loans are negative items that reduce a person’s credit score. After the seven-year mark, when the negative information vanishes from your report, your credit score will improve. This increases the chances of you being granted new loans. Make sure to treat this as a blessing and make repayments on time.It doesn’t hold true for positive information
While the seven-year mark helps in eliminating negative information like unpaid debt from your credit report, it doesn’t do the same with positive accounts. Any positive item persists in the list indefinitely. Even if positive accounts that you have adequately closed and in good standing will stay in your credit report. Again, this helps in giving you the best chance at a decent credit score.
It doesn’t start over
A lot of people get afraid of the possibility that one slipup will mean that their entire negative list will persist for another seven years, starting from the day the error is made. However, this is not how the rule works. Instead, only the mistake you made will stay for the next seven years, while the previous ones will be eliminated. For example, if you missed a repayment in 2010 by 60 days, this data will be removed from your account in 2017. However, let’s say previously you missed a repayment in 2008, it will still be eliminated in 2015 regardless of your slip up in 2010.The statute of limitations: What you should know
Those of you who are concerned with making their debt go away, there is another term that is important for you to know. And that is a statute of limitation. This is also a time limit. It may or may not be of seven years. The statute of limitations signifies the time period after which debt is no longer collectable.The time period for the statute of limitations starts from the day of non-repayment rather than the day you take out the loan. For instance, if you took credit with seven years of statute of limitation and three years into it, stopped paying your creditor. This is the day, seven years after which, the statute of limitations will come into effect.
Conclusion
Never treat the statute of limitation as a “Get out of jail free card.” If you take a loan, make to repay it in a timely manner. You wouldn’t want your creditor to send collectors and letters your way. After all, such statutes have a high limit. The seven-year mark isn’t a matter of days either. It’s quite a time to miss repayments and suffer the wrath of your collector. Rather than risking your reputation and credit score, make sure you plan out your repayments and only take a loan when you are confident that you can return it.Debt doesn’t really go away after seven years. Merely the proof of your non-repayment does. So, keep making your repayments!
