How Long Does Bankruptcy Stay on Your Credit Report?

You filed for bankruptcy, or you are looking at a credit report that still shows one, and you want a date. Here it is, followed by what to do when a credit report gets your bankruptcy wrong.

How long does bankruptcy stay on your credit report?

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 10 years. A Chapter 13 bankruptcy stays for 7 years. In a case that ends in a discharge, both periods are counted from the date you filed, not from your discharge date or the day the case closed. A dismissed case can be dated differently, so check how the bureau counts yours.

• Chapter 7: 10 years from the filing date.

• Chapter 13: 7 years from the filing date.

Those are the timelines Experian publishes. The law itself is slightly different, and the difference matters if your report gets this wrong.

What the Fair Credit Reporting Act says

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) sets the limit. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(1), a credit bureau may not report a bankruptcy case that is more than 10 years old, counted "from the date of entry of the order for relief or the date of adjudication." In a voluntary bankruptcy, the filing itself counts as the order for relief (11 U.S.C. § 301(b)), which is why the clock starts at filing.

That 10 year ceiling applies to any bankruptcy case, whatever the chapter. The seven year period for Chapter 13 is how Experian reports it, not a separate rule in the statute. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes it the same way: a bankruptcy can remain on your credit report for up to 10 years from the date of the order.

When a bankruptcy can be reported for longer than 10 years

The time limits have three exceptions. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(b), they do not apply to a credit report used for:

• a credit transaction of $150,000 or more,

• underwriting life insurance with a face amount of $150,000 or more, or

• hiring someone at an annual salary of $75,000 or more.

So a lender on a loan of $150,000 or more, a life insurer on a policy of $150,000 or more, or an employer filling a job that pays $75,000 or more can lawfully see an older bankruptcy. For an ordinary credit card, car loan or apartment application, a bureau may not report a bankruptcy that is more than 10 years old.

What a wrong bankruptcy entry looks like

A bankruptcy on your report is not an error in itself. When an entry is wrong, it usually falls into one of these groups:

• It is still there after 10 years. Outside the exceptions above, that is old information the bureau is not allowed to report.

• A Chapter 13 is still there between years 7 and 10. That is not necessarily illegal, because the statute allows 10 years. It does not match Experian's stated seven year timeline, so it is worth asking why.

• A discharged debt still shows a balance or a current past due status. A debt that was discharged in your bankruptcy is generally no longer a debt you owe personally, so an account that still reports as owed is generally inaccurate. The FCRA bars a lender or collector from reporting information it knows or has reasonable cause to believe is inaccurate (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(A)). A car loan or mortgage you kept paying is different, so check your discharge order and any reaffirmation papers first.

• The details are wrong. That means the wrong filing date, the wrong chapter, a duplicate listing, or a bankruptcy that belongs to someone else.

Credit bureaus also have their own duty to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy in what they report (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)).

How to dispute a bankruptcy entry

1. Pull all three reports. Our guide to the best site for a free credit report shows where to get them. Note the exact entry, its dates and any balances.

2. Gather proof. Your bankruptcy petition, schedules, discharge order and court docket show the filing date, the chapter, the debts you listed and when the discharge was entered.

3. Dispute in writing with each bureau that shows the error. Once a bureau receives your dispute, it generally has 30 days to investigate, or up to 45 days if you send more information during the first 30 (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)). It must notify the lender or collector that reported the item within 5 business days, and it must delete or correct anything found inaccurate or that cannot be verified.

4. Dispute with the lender or collector too. You can also dispute directly with the company that reported the information (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(8)).

5. Keep every letter, date and response. If this ends up in front of a lawyer, that paper trail is the case.

Sending the dispute to the bureau is not a formality. When a bureau passes your dispute to the lender or collector, that company must investigate and correct or delete anything inaccurate (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)). That is the duty you can enforce in court. The separate duty to report accurately in the first place is enforced by government agencies, not by private lawsuits (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(c) and (d)).

What you can recover

If a bureau or lender willfully violates the FCRA, you can recover your actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, plus punitive damages and your costs and reasonable attorney's fees (15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)). If the violation was negligent instead of willful, you can recover your actual damages and attorney's fees (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). Actual damages are the harm you can show, such as a denied loan or a higher interest rate.

You generally have to file within 2 years of discovering the violation or 5 years after it happened, whichever comes first (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). Whether a violation was willful or negligent is something a lawyer will look at closely, so do not assume from the outset which one applies to you.

How other negative items compare

A bankruptcy is one of the longest negative items on a report. Most other adverse information, including accounts placed for collection or charged off, can be reported for seven years (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4) and (a)(5)). For an account placed for collection, the seven years start 180 days after the date the delinquency that led to it began (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(c)). If a collection on your report looks wrong, see our guide to a wrong collection on your credit report.

When to talk to a Florida consumer-protection attorney

Consider talking to a lawyer if a bankruptcy is still on your report after its limit, a discharged debt still shows as owed after you disputed it, or a bureau answered your dispute with "verified" without fixing anything. The FCRA lets a court order a party that broke the law to pay your reasonable attorney's fees, and the first case review with us is free. You can read more about our FCRA practice.

If you are still deciding whether to file for bankruptcy, that is a question for a bankruptcy attorney. Our work starts when a credit report gets the result wrong.

If a bankruptcy entry on your report looks wrong, or a debt you discharged still shows as owed, you can request a free case review and we will look at what your reports show.