Credit Report Basics

• Consumer credit reports are maintained by the three credit reporting agencies: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. Each company maintains its own records, and each report may contain different information than the others.
  
  

Judgments

• If a creditor sues a consumer and wins a judgment in court, that judgment can stay on the debtor's credit report for up to seven years. However, if the state's statute of limitation on judgments is longer than seven years, the judgment can stay on the report for as long as state law provides.
  
  

Bankruptcy

• Bankruptcy items can remain on your credit report for up to seven years. The bankruptcy itself can remain for seven years for a Chapter 10 or 13, and 10 years for a Chapter 7, 11 or 12.
  
  

Job Applications

• If you've applied for a job with an annual salary over $20,000, the inquiry can remain on your credit report indefinitely. You can ask the employer to have it removed.
  
  

Mistakes

• Any errors or mistaken entries can be removed by a consumer who provides proof of the mistake and demands the credit bureau to remove the item. Items that remain on the credit report longer than their allowed time can similarly be removed.