The removal of accounts by a CRA from consumer credit files/reports is an internal housekeeping measure that is not covered under the FCRA.
The CRAs choose to remove at apprix 10 years after an account is closed, as accounts will normally have most or all of payment history information excluded under the FCRA within 7-10 years of date of initial delinquency, and date of initial delinquency will occur prior to account closure. Thus, afer approx 7-10 years from date of account closure, account history will be incomplete as regards prior payment history performance, and thus of little use to potential creditors.
However, since the CRA removal date is totally discretionary on the part of the CRAs, as it is not a provision of statute or regulation, actually removal date can vary significantly. It could occur prior to 10 years, or significantly later.
I personally had a credit card account remain for over 15 years after I closed the account.
Thank you for the clarification Robert. I think we preach as gospel on here that closed accounts will remain on your profile and continue to age for 10 years. You have provided your own experience that they can continue longer. Another senior contributor on here has posted that he had a couple of closed accounts drop off at 3 years. I don't recall who that is though or the thread it was shared in. It is not as black and white as we sometimes say it is on here.
Accounts can be removed in two ways, and removal of an account at a given time does not necessarily mean it was deleted by the CRA under their own removal policy.
A creditor can always, at any given time, simply report deletion of their account to any one or to multiple CRAs.
That is not a deletion initiated by the CRA, and a consumer will normally not be aware of who deleted.
Creditors often choose to delete accounts in order to simplify reporting, or to avoid future need to have to deal with any disputes that a consumer might file.
I would speculate that accounts deleted after three years were not removed by the CRA under their internal procedure, but rather were removed based on an explicit deletion reported by the creditor.
@RobertEG wrote:
However, since the CRA removal date is totally discretionary on the part of the CRAs, as it is not a provision of statute or regulation, actually removal date can vary significantly. It could occur prior to 10 years, or significantly later.
I personally had a credit card account remain for over 15 years after I closed the account.
Very good Advice@RobertEG , as Always!
I have a CitiBank CC Reporting @ 22.3 years after being closed. it only shows on EQ.
I Lost a very old account on EX Dropped My AoOA by 10 years Affecting My AoOA and AAoA (Painful)
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I've got a Sears account that was closed in 2005 too, but still updating occasionally. It's only on EQ and helping my age quite a bit and I think its the reason my EQ is so much higher than the rest since my EQ is the only one that still has a baddie left on it.