How long do collections stay on your credit report?
Learning you have an account in collections can be a stressful experience. But don’t ignore it and hope it goes away.
If you have an account in collections, it’s important to know how long it will stay on your credit report. Once you learn the basics, you can make a plan to confidently get back on track:
What are collections?
Bills fall into collections when they’re seriously past due. It can be a sign of financial trouble. But it could also simply be a bill that slipped through the cracks.
Most of the accounts or bills you have can go to collections, including credit cards, utilities and student loans, just to name a few. When a bill is late, a lender may try to collect money for the past-due payments themselves. Or, they may hire or sell your debt to another company to collect the amount due. There’s no set time frame as to when a lender will place a past-due account into collections.
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