The FCRA mandates the number of years that a record will be listed on your credit report. Bad credit information will stay on your credit report for 7 to 10 years. Inquiries into your credit will only remain on your credit report for 2 years. Tax liens stay on your credit report for 15 years.
Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction (FACT) Act
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 is a United States law, passed by the congress that allows consumers to request and obtain a free credit report once every twelve months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies. In cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission the three major credit reporting agencies established the website HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annualcreditreport.com" \o "Annualcreditreport.com" annualcreditreport.com to provide free access to annual credit reports.
The act also contains provisions to help reduce identity theft such as the ability for individuals to place alerts on their credit histories if identity theft is suspected. The act requires secure disposal of consumer information. Another key item was the requirement that mortgage lenders provide consumers with a Credit Disclosure Notice that included their credit scores, range of scores, credit bureaus, scoring models, and factors affecting their scores.