Finding Your Fall-Off Date

Why this page matters

Knowing when an account will fall off your credit report is one of the most important pieces of information you can have. It affects whether to fight a debt, whether to try to settle, whether to wait, and how to handle communications from collectors.

It is also one of the most poorly explained aspects of credit reporting. Different bureaus display this information differently, and some do not display it directly at all.

This page walks through how to find or calculate the fall-off date for any account on your credit report.

The basic rule

Under federal law (Fair Credit Reporting Act section 605), most negative information must be removed from your credit report seven years after the original Date of First Delinquency.

Specifically:

Late payments: 7 years from the date of the late payment
Charge-offs: 7 years from the original Date of First Delinquency on the account
Collections: 7 years from the original Date of First Delinquency with the original creditor
Bankruptcies: 7 years for Chapter 13, 10 years for Chapter 7

The clock starts at the original delinquency. It does not restart when a debt is sold to a collector. It does not restart if you make a partial payment. The clock runs from the original delinquency date with the original creditor, period.

This is the most commonly misunderstood aspect of credit reporting, and it is also the area where re-aging violations most commonly occur.

What is Date of First Delinquency (DoFD)?

Date of First Delinquency is the date you first became delinquent on the original account, after which you never brought the account current again.

Walk through this scenario:

You have a credit card. In January, you miss a payment. In February, you make a payment that brings the account current. In April, you miss a payment and never make another one. The card eventually goes to collection.

Your Date of First Delinquency is April. Not January. Even though you missed a payment in January, you brought the account current in February. The account was not continuously delinquent until April.

The DoFD anchors the seven-year reporting clock. April plus 7 years equals the fall-off date.

How to find your DoFD

On Equifax

Equifax usually labels this clearly. Look for "Date of First Delinquency" or "Date of First Major Delinquency" on collection and charge-off accounts.

On Experian

Experian does not always display DoFD as a labeled field. You may need to calculate it from your own records or other dates shown on the account.

On TransUnion

TransUnion shows an "Estimated month and year that this item will be removed" field, which is the bureau's calculation of seven years from DoFD. You can work backwards from this date.

From your own records

If you cannot find DoFD on any of the reports, your own records are the best source. Look for:

The last payment you made on the original account (the next missed payment after this is your DoFD)
Bank statements showing the last successful auto-payment
Email records showing payment notifications from the original creditor
The point when you stopped getting "you owe X" emails from the original creditor and started getting them from collectors

How to calculate the fall-off date

Once you know the DoFD, the math is simple: DoFD plus 7 years equals the fall-off date.

If your last payment was March 15, 2022, and you never paid again, your DoFD is approximately April 2022 (the first missed payment after the last successful payment). The fall-off date is April 2029.

The exact day matters less than the month and year. Bureaus typically remove items in the month their reporting period expires.

When the date shown is wrong

There are several common ways the dates shown on your credit report can be wrong.

Re-aging

A debt collector reports the debt with a more recent DoFD than the actual original delinquency date. This makes the seven-year clock appear to start later, keeping the negative information on your report longer than legally allowed.

This is illegal. It is one of the most common credit reporting violations.

If you suspect re-aging, see our page on re-aging for what to do.

Date opened confusion

The "date opened" field on a debt buyer's tradeline is sometimes the date the debt buyer acquired the debt, not the date the original account was opened with the original creditor. This can make a 5-year-old debt appear to be a brand-new account.

The DoFD is the date that matters for fall-off, not the "date opened" field.

Inconsistent dates between bureaus

If Equifax shows a different DoFD than TransUnion for the same account, one of them is wrong. Federal law requires accuracy. Inconsistency between bureaus on the same account is grounds for disputing whichever bureau has the wrong date.

What if there is no DoFD shown?

Some accounts on some bureaus do not display a DoFD field at all. You can still figure out the correct fall-off date by:

Determining when the account was last current (when you made your last successful payment)
The next missed payment after that is approximately your DoFD
Add seven years for the fall-off date

If the bureau is not showing a DoFD or showing one that contradicts your records, you can request that the bureau verify the date as part of a dispute. Under FCRA, the bureau must be able to verify any information they report.

Special cases

Medical collections

Medical collections under $500 do not appear on credit reports as of 2023. Medical collections must wait one year before being reported (giving you time to deal with insurance issues). Paid medical collections must be removed.

The seven-year clock still applies to unpaid medical collections that are reportable.

Authorized user accounts

If you are an authorized user on someone else's account, that account appears on your credit report but the responsibility for paying it remains with the primary account holder. Negative information on these accounts can affect your credit even though you are not the primary holder.

You can request to be removed as an authorized user, which usually causes the account to drop off your report.

Charge-offs that were later paid

A charge-off that was later paid still falls off seven years from the original DoFD. Paying a charge-off does not remove it from your report any sooner.

The status changes from "charge-off" to "paid charge-off" or similar, but the account stays on your report until the seven-year mark from the original delinquency.

Bankruptcy

Chapter 7 bankruptcies remain on your credit report for 10 years from the filing date. Chapter 13 bankruptcies remain for 7 years from the filing date.

Watching for the fall-off

When an account is approaching its fall-off date, the safest strategy is usually to wait. Specifically:

Do not contact the collector
Do not make a payment, even a partial one
Do not respond to settlement offers
Do not visit the collector's online portal

Contacting the collector or making a partial payment can have several negative consequences:

In some states, payment or written acknowledgment can revive the statute of limitations on the underlying debt, exposing you to a potential lawsuit
The collector may use the contact as an excuse to update the reporting date, potentially resetting clocks or otherwise affecting your report
Acknowledging the debt verbally or in writing creates evidence that could be used against you in court

The closer an account is to falling off naturally, the less reason there is to engage with the collector. If the account is going to disappear in 6 months, simply waiting is usually the right call.

After the fall-off date passes, check your report from each bureau. If the account is still showing past its expected fall-off date, dispute it. The seven-year rule is in federal law and is straightforward to enforce through the dispute process.

Templates for date-related disputes

We have specific templates for date-related disputes: