 TITLE: What Is Account Re-Aging? CONTENT: Does Re-Aging Debt Impact Your Credit Report?\n---------------------------------------------\nThe length of time that negative items stay on your credit reports depends on when they first appeared on your report—not the debt's statute of limitations.\nYou may read or hear about re-aging in reference to a creditor or collection agency \"re-aging your account\" so it stays on your credit report longer, but that should never happen.\nMost negative items can stay on your credit reports for up to seven years—or, if there is a series of late payments that leads to your account being closed, seven years after the initial late payment in that series. This is also called the date of first delinquency on an account.\nThe date of first delinquency never changes, which is why the length of time a negative item can appear on your credit report won't be extended. Even if you make a payment on the account or the debt is sold or transferred to a new collection agency, federal law prohibits collection agencies from changing the original delinquency date of the debt. END