after 7 years, a debt is removed from collections?

Each state is different so I would look that up but it should be 7 years from the time the account went into collections. Sometimes they just "go away" and sometimes you have to write a letter to the credit bureauss (sp) and have them remove it. I have done this recently.

I am in the process of fixing mine and my husbands credit so we can get our first home and this website is the best place I have found for credit info. It even has sample letters for you to copy and send out incase you don't know exactly what to say.

www.creditinfocenter.com

It has helped me quite a bit in getting things done and explains all of the legal jargon so you can understand it.

Depends on your state, but most debts go away from your credit after 7 years.

Debts don't always go away like they should, I am currently fighting a zombie debt from a bankruptcy nine years ago. It got passed from one collections to another but they're claiming activity as recently as four years ago (total BS)

Save all your documentation, you'll need to keep it probably for the rest of your life.

The 7 yrs is not from when the debt was incurred but from the date the last attempt to collect payment was.

I don't know the specifics about time periods in the USA (I'm from UK), but I do know it doesn't dissapear. If you have defaulted on a debt it will seriously destroy your credit rating so if you're not responsible get it sorted.