The eCredable blog
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, most negative information can be reported on credit reports for seven years. Why seven? Why not five, or 10 or some other amount of time?
How long should someone wait for a credit report? I mailed AnnualCreditReport.com requests for a single credit agency report for my daughter and myself, but neither of us has received a response. I do not want to send an additional request and be billed for multiple reports.
A credit report is a pretty simple concept: It’s a report on your past use of credit and loans. That part is generally pretty easy for people to grasp. It’s some of the other stuff on the report — and the stuff that’s not on the report — that confuses some and leads to misunderstanding the credit report’s purpose.
Most people that including your rent payment in your credit report is one of the smartest things you can do. It might be, but reporting two utility payments is more valuable than one rent payment, and much easier - and cheaper - to report.