I listened to a pretty terrible webinar this afternoon designed to teach mortgage lenders the "inside secrets" about how credit scores "really" work. I just love to torture myself listening to self-proclaimed experts spouting inaccurate credit advice. Misinformation such as hard inquiries causing a 3-point score drop each and that a paid off mortgage record will hurt your credit score.

One thing mentioned during the webinar did catch my attention, though. The speaker said that:

the reason negative records expire from your credit reports after 7 years is biblical. The bible said that debts should be forgiven after 7 years.

Hmmm...this is interesting. I&39;ve never heard of this bible/Fair Credit Reporting Act connection before. A quick Google search turned up the following passage:

"At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.  And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD&39;s release" (Deuteronomy 15:1-2).

I suppose it is possible that there&39;s a connection here. US bankruptcy laws preceded the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If there was a direct connection to scripture it would probably be from these earlier regulations that carried over into the FCRA.

I&39;ll have to do a little more research on this. Are there any biblical scholars or colonial historians out there with information to share?

Emily Davidson is editor of CreditBloggers.com and a former credit expert for the credit bureau, TransUnion. She writes about credit and personal finance topics.