Does credit debt go away after 7 years?
Sarah Martinez
Updated on February 03, 2026
Debt can remain on your credit reports for about seven years, and it typically has a negative impact on your credit scores. It takes time to make that debt disappear. Fortunately, the debt will have less influence on your credit scores over time — and will even fall off your credit reports eventually.
Does credit card debt eventually go away?
Credit card debt does not go away, unless it is discharged through bankruptcy. Credit card debt will eventually disappear from your credit report, and creditors will ultimately face an uphill legal battle when suing over repayment, but your actual debt does not just go away under normal circumstances.
What happens to unpaid credit card debt after seven years?
Credit Reporting Confusion. A common misconception exists that credit card debt you owe disappears after seven years when it disappears off of your credit report. In reality, credit card debt you left unpaid does not go away. However, a creditor has a limited time in which to sue you for the debt, called the statute of limitations.
How long can a debt remain on your credit report?
In most states, the debt itself does not expire or disappear until you pay it. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, debts can appear on your credit report generally for seven years and in a few cases, longer than that. Under state laws, if you are sued about a debt, and the debt is too old, you may have a defense to the lawsuit.
Is there Statute of limitations on credit card debt?
Most statutes of limitations fall in the three-to-six year range, although in some jurisdictions they may extend for longer depending on the type of debt. State law named in your credit agreement.
When does a credit card debt expire in Georgia?
The uncertainty over when credit card debt expires arises because state laws governing contracts are interpreted by the courts when they are applied to individual circumstances, and those interpretations may change over time. That was the case in Georgia in January 2008, when a Georgia Court of Appeals ruled (in Hill v.
