How long does a personal loan stay on your credit report?

FCRA-mandated timelines: The Fair Credit Reporting Act sets maximum reporting periods for most negative credit items at 7 years from the original delinquency date. A personal loan you paid off on time will typically drop off your report 10 years after the account closes. A loan you defaulted on can appear for 7 years from when you first became 30+ days late.

Good-standing accounts: A paid-off personal loan that was always current continues to help your credit history during its time on your report. The positive payment history (contributing to the 35% payment-history FICO factor) and the diversity of credit types (contributing to the 10% credit-mix factor) both work in your favor even after the loan is paid off. This means a paid personal loan is one of the few items where its aging off the report can slightly reduce your score.

Negative accounts: A late payment, default, or charge-off from a personal loan remains for 7 years from the date of first delinquency (the date the first payment was missed, not the date it was charged off or the date a collection agency bought it). This timeline cannot be restarted by a payment on the debt.

Collection accounts: If a defaulted personal loan is sold to a collection agency, the collection account can only report for 7 years from the same original delinquency date, not from the collection purchase date. Collectors who try to re-age a debt (restarting the 7-year clock) are violating the FCRA.