Obsolescence
Records that have aged out, or been sealed or expunged, simply do not make it into the report.
What it ensures
The FCRA sets time limits on what may be reported — generally seven years for most adverse items, ten for bankruptcies — and sealed or expunged records are off-limits entirely. This control treats those windows as hard boundaries and suppresses what falls outside them.
Because obsolescence is a date computation, it is an obligation a deterministic control enforces cleanly. State overlays, such as a stricter conviction window, are additional limits the control applies the same way.
Watch it run
An old adverse item surfaces for the report — a non-conviction record now more than seven years old.
An adverse item is staged for the report — dated more than seven years ago.
- Ready
The stale item
A non-conviction record surfaces. It’s real, but it’s old — past the window the FCRA allows.
- Permitted
Out of window
A date computation, not a judgment: the item antedates the report by more than seven years.
Where it comes from§1681c sets time limits on what may be reported — generally seven years for most adverse items — and bars sealed or expunged records outright.
What it satisfiesChecking each item against its window before assembly is the mechanical core of §1681c(a).
FCRA §1681c(a) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a) Except as authorized under subsection (b), no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information: … (2) Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that, from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period. … (5) Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years. U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗ - Blocked
The wrong move
The record is true, so including it feels harmless. It is still a §1681c violation on its face. Reporting the stale item is refused.
Where it comes fromTruth is not a defense to obsolescence — §1681c bars reporting the item regardless of its accuracy once it is out of window.
What it satisfiesRefusing to report the out-of-window item is exactly what §1681c(a) requires; these limits also shift by state — the kind of rule that silently drifts if it lives in a prompt.
FCRA §1681c(a) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a) Except as authorized under subsection (b), no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information: … (2) Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that, from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period. … (5) Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years. U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗ - Suppressed
Suppressed
What the consumer and the client see contains only what the law currently permits. The stale item never reaches the page.
- Blocked
Reinstate the suppressed item
Once suppressed, a stale item can’t be quietly reinstated — that would need a fresh reportability assessment. Refused.
What it satisfiesForbidden transition: a suppressed item may not be moved back to included (§1681c).
FCRA §1681c(a) Statute 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a) Except as authorized under subsection (b), no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information: … (2) Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that, from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period. … (5) Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years. U.S. Code · Cornell LII ↗ - On the record
The proof
The file shows the out-of-window item was identified and dropped — evidence the window was enforced, not missed.
Why the whole holds
No single reviewer keeps stale records out at volume. What keeps them out is that every item is checked against its window before the report exists, and an out-of-window one has no path onto the page. Reliability isn’t vigilance; it’s that the obsolete item is structurally unreportable.
Why it matters
Reporting an obsolete or sealed item is a §1681c violation on its face, and these limits shift by jurisdiction — the kind of rule that drifts out of date if it lives only in a prompt.