How long are bankruptcy and other credit information included on the debtor's credit report?

A consumer credit report may include Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy information for ten years from the time the case is filed. One major consumer credit reporting agency is said to remove Chapter 13 information after only seven years, but it is not legally required to do so.

Most other credit information can be included in a consumer credit report for seven years. Civil suits, civil judgments, and arrest records, however, can be reported for at least seven years, and longer if the information is relevant for a longer time period. For example, if the civil judgment against the debtor is valid for ten years, it can be reported for credit-rating purposes for the same time period.

These time limits on reporting credit information do not apply to reports for credit transactions that involve or are reasonably expected to involve a principal amount of $150,000 or more, the underwriting of life insurance involving or reasonably expected to involve a face amount of $150,000 or more, or the employment of a person at salary that is or is reasonably expected to be at least $75,000 annually.

Because both the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which controls what a credit-reporting agency may include in a consumer's credit report, and the Bankruptcy Code are federal law, the same rules apply in all states. There may be some differences, however, in relation to the more-than-seven-year information, since most of the relevant time periods or statutes of limitations are found in the individual states' laws.