Late Credit Card Payment?

Question

I've had a late Credit Card Payment last summer and I was going through my report today and saw it sits in the "adverse account" section of the report? How long will it be there? It was late that 1 time only and has remained current since. Why is it not with the accounts in good standing and how long will it remain in adverse?

Michael.....
It was only 30 days late. ;o( Trying to rebuild and I seem to be just losing this battle of credit!!

Answer 1

As the first poster said, it will remain on there for 7 years from the date of the late. Then if the account has been kept in good standing since that late, it will move over to the positive section of your reports.

You might try a goodwill letter with the creditor.
If you have a good reason for the late (not just "I forgot to pay") and you have kept the account in good standing before and after the late, they may remove it. (include in your letter how much you enjoy doing business with them, etc)

Some companies are pretty nice about working with people and removing lates, but there are other companies that will not even consider removing a late before it's time.

Answer 2

7 years as mentioned is correct.

However, most lenders would not worry about a single late payment unless you also have a number of lates in other accounts.

What will help you most, is to NOT worry about the late payment from before and focus on paying all your credit cards and loan payments on time.

Some ways to improve your credit score:

- If you don't have a lot of credit cards or loans, you may want to consider opening a couple of accounts (but don't use them).

- If you have a lot of credit cards or loans, you may want to consolidate them (if from the same bank) or close a couple. Make sure if you consolidate, merge the newer card into the older one that has a longer credit history. You should also try to close the card accounts that are newer unless they have much higher credit limits.

- If your credit card balance is close to their limits, pay down or request for increase of limits.

- If you have all the balance on one card, you may want to spread them around in other cards. Lower utilization rate typically improves credit score.

- Be patient! Credit Scores such as FICO has a time-decay factor built in their models so that negative events will have less and less impact as time passes by.

Answer 3

THEY ARE USUSALLY THERE FOR ABOUT 7 YEARS, I KNOW I HAVE 3. HOW LATE WAS IT? WHAT YOU CAN DO TO TRY AND REMOVE IT IS FIGHT IT, THE REPORTING COMPANY HAS 30 DAYS TO RESPOND, IF THEY DO NOT IT CAN BE TAKEN OFF. HEY, IT'S WORTH A TRY.