Where does 605(b) require that consumer reports include negative information older than 7 years? The way I read it: 605(a) requires charge off, late payment, etc more than ~7 years old be excluded from "consumer reports" and 605(b) allows (but does not require) such information to be present in certain cases.
609(a) states that "every consumer reporting agency shall, upon request, clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer
all information in the consumer’s file at the time of the request"
File is defined in 603(g) as "all of the information on that consumer recorded and retained by a consumer reporting agency regardless of how the information is stored."
In practice I have never heard of a consumer report nor consumer file from Equifax, Experian, or Transunion to contain such data. I don't dispute that the law allows them to do so if they so choose.
