There is no requriement under the FCRA that a party must "forget" info they obtained in a credit report. However, the FCRA does restrict use of information to only the specific purpose provided by the party in obtaining the report.
FCRA 607 states that a CRA may only provide a credit report to a party without express consent of the consumer if they have provided a statement of their permissible purpose for obtaining the report, which is one or more of the reasons set forth under FCRA 604. The requesting party must also certify that the report will be used for only that, and no other, purpose.
It does not, however, place any time limitations on how long thereafter the information in the report can be used for that certified purpose.
To that end, it is possible that if you apply for new or increased credit and the creditor has previously pulled your report, they may continue to use that prior report for the same purpose of evaluation of a consumer initiated request for credit.
If they deny a request for credit and they have used a credit report to any extent in the evaluation of the request for credit, they must include in their denial notice to the consumer a statement that the consumer has a right ot submit a copy of the denial letter to the CRA that issued the report and the CRA must then provide the consumer a free copy of their current credit report, provided the request is made within 60 days of the denail notice. See FCRA 615(a).
The purpose of that requirement is to provide the consumer the opportunity to contest any denial if the info relied upon in the adverse decision is outdated or deleted.
As for possible retention of information beyond a credit report exclusion date, such as a collection that has now passed 7 years plus 180 days from the DOFD, that would not be a violation of the FCRA.
The credit report exclusion provisions of FCRA 605(a) are all imposed on the credit reporting agencies, and prevent the CRAs from including the specific adverse items in a normal credit report they issue after the relevant exclusion date. It is not imposed on the user of the report. The party who has obtained a credit report is not requried to exclude the report from their records or usage other than they cannot disclose to others or use the report for any purpose other than the permissible purpose stated as the basis for the report.
Additionally, the credit report exclusion provisions of FCRA 605(a) are not absolute, and dont prevent even the CRA from still retaining and providing the normally excluded adverse information at any later date if the permissible purpose provided by the party requesting the report is for a a reason set forth in FCRA 605(b), such as a request for credit in an amount of $150K or more.
Thus, credit report exclusion is not a retention provision, but only a restriction upon the CRA in continuing to include adverse items in subsequent credit reports.
