 TITLE: What to Do if You’re Sued by a Debt Collector CONTENT: How Debt Collections Affect Your Credit\n---------------------------------------\nWhen a lender sells a debt to a collection agency, that agency may choose to report it as a separate account on your credit reports. Just like late payments, collection accounts can damage your credit score significantly.\nBut if the collection account is inaccurate, you can file a dispute with the credit reporting agencies. In some cases, the information may simply be updated instead of removed entirely.\nIf the information is accurate, the collection account will remain on your credit report for seven years from the original delinquency date on the original loan—in other words, the first time you were late on a payment.\nFor example, if you stopped making payments on a loan in July 2019 and the collection account was first reported in January 2020, the negative item will remain on your reports until July 2026. END