The date that controls everything
For most negatives, the clock runs from the 'date of first delinquency' — the first missed payment that was never brought current. Seven years from that date, the item must come off. Paying later doesn't restart the clock, and collectors can't legally 're-age' it to a newer date.
Always check this date on collections. If it's been moved forward to extend the seven years, that's a reporting error you can dispute.
The timelines
Late payments: 7 years from the late date. Collections: 7 years from the original delinquency. Charge-offs: 7 years. Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 7 years; Chapter 7: 10 years. Hard inquiries: 2 years (and they only affect your score for about 1). Paid tax liens and most civil judgments no longer appear on standard reports.
They fade before they fall off
A two-year-old late payment hurts far less than a two-month-old one. Scoring models weight recent behavior most, so even before an item expires, adding on-time months and lowering utilization pulls your score back up.
What you can do before the clock runs out
Dispute anything inaccurate (wrong dates are common), ask for a goodwill removal if you had a genuine one-off slip on an account you've since kept current, and keep adding positive history so the old mark matters less every month.
Time is on your side — negatives expire, and they lose weight long before they do. Subefy tracks every item's age and reporting date across all three bureaus and flags re-aged entries to dispute. Results vary; no removal is guaranteed.