When an old debt shows up as a collection — sometimes from a company you have never heard of — the first question is usually "how long is this going to be on my report?" The answer is about seven years, but the start date is the part collectors most often get wrong, sometimes in ways that are illegal.
The clock runs from the original account, not the collector
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA §605), a collection account can stay on your credit report for about seven years. That seven years is measured from the date of first delinquency on the original account — the first payment you missed on the original debt that was never brought current — generally seven years plus 180 days from that date.
Crucially, the clock does not reset when the original creditor sells the debt to a collection agency or debt buyer, and it does not reset each time the account changes hands. A debt that first went delinquent four years ago has about three years left to report, no matter how many collectors have owned it since. Selling a debt does not buy it a fresh seven years on your file.
Re-aging: when a collector reports a newer date
Because the fall-off date depends on that original delinquency date, some collectors report a later date than the real one to keep the account on your report longer. That practice is called re-aging, and re-aging accurate negative information is illegal under the FCRA.
If a collection looks like it should have aged off — or the date shown is newer than your real first missed payment — pull your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com, find the date of first delinquency the bureau is using, and dispute it. Disputing is free, and you do not have to pay a "credit repair" company to do it. You can also estimate the correct fall-off date with the credit report timeline checker.
Paying a collection, and the duplicate-tradeline trap
For most debts, paying or settling a collection does not delete it or reset the clock — it updates to show "paid" or "settled" and still reports for the full seven years. The big exception is medical collections: under current credit-bureau policy, a paid medical collection is removed entirely, medical collections under $500 are not reported at all, and unpaid medical debt waits about a year before it can appear. A federal rule finalized in early 2025 would have removed most medical debt from reports, but a court struck it down in 2025, so in 2026 only the bureaus' voluntary policies apply.
Watch for duplicate reporting, too. Sometimes both the original charged-off account and the collection version appear at once. They may both report — but they should share the same original delinquency date and fall off together, and the collection should not show a balance that is also still showing on the original. Inconsistent dates or doubled balances are worth disputing.
"Off your report" is not the same as "too old to sue on"
Finally, do not confuse the reporting clock with the lawsuit clock. How long a collection shows on your report (about seven years) is separate from how long a collector has the right to sue you on it — the statute of limitations, which varies by state. A collection can be too old to sue on but still appear on your report, and in some states making a partial payment can restart the lawsuit clock without doing anything to the reporting clock. Before you pay or promise anything on an old debt, check the statute of limitations checker for your state.