1 30-day late = 65pt drop

[Lyythine]

So, here's another stupid story in line with txjohns mistake... 

About two years back, I gave my sister a second card through one of my bank of america accounts.  I told her to use it when she needed it, just let me know so I could pay it off right away.

So fast forward to last week.  I get a credit alert from experian saying a new derog has been listed.  I log in, and sure enough - there is a 30 day late on one of my bank of america cards.  I promptly log into BofA and notice I have a $35 charge at Red Lobster and a nice $39 late fee.  I call BofA right away and say I didnt make this purchase.... yada yada yada -  They look and say "Mr. Lyythine, this card was swiped at the location..."

So - I call my sister and sure enough - It was her and she forgot to tell me.  Apparently her card was declined (ATM card) and so she used mine - no big deal - except for not telling me.

I never use that account and it is primarily for her while in college.  So, after talking to a supervisor at BofA and explaining the situation, He agreed to remove the 30day late, but I still had to pay the late fee (which I was more than ok with considering he was going to delete the 30day late).

So, just for kicks, I decided to pull my Equifax fico today before the late was removed - and OMG!!! 65pts for 1 30day late????!!!!!

Well, after about 5 min of me swearing at the computer and saying things that would make a sailor blush - I calmed down and will now wait for the late to be removed (which I got in writing btw, just in case).

Anyway, my sister now has implicit instructions, she must call PRIOR to making purchases and retain approval from the credit dept (AKA: ME) before she buys anything.

Just thought Id share my shock at such a large drop for such a small derog. 

[creditwherecreditisdue]

Evidence of the power of bucketing.

[Uborrow-Upay]

Great job of getting that removed. 

(You've got great scores, though, even if it had stayed!)

Just out of curiosity, didn't they send you a statement with that charge on it?  (Not being a wiseguy here, I'm really asking because of a discussion in another thread about paper statements vs. e-statements.) 

Or was it one of those things with this charge coming at the very end (or beginning) of the cycle, and you knew you had already PIF before the statement dropped, so you didn't look?

I almost got caught on a Lowe's account that way.  Some window treatments I'd ordered were credited, and then rebilled at the very end of cycle, after I'd already PIF (or so I thought) before the statement dropped.  I didn't open the mailed statement right away, but when I did, I saw that charge and ran to the store to pay, just in time.

Glad it all worked out for you!

[score_building]

congrats that you were able to get them to agree to delete the 30day notation!  i bet you could call back and speak to another csr to have the fee waived too but that's your call. 

if i had to guess, 65 points sounds like it would be pretty close to the median for a fresh 30 day on a v. good score report (even without respect to rebucketing) if i'm not mistaken.

unfortunately whether or not your sister contacts you prior or afterwards or not at all, the responsibility lies with you to cross check your acct. a couple x's each month to scan for any stray/new charges.  this is essential whether or not you use the card or receive notification from your sister of her usage in a timely fashion.

[Watchmann]

You are very trusting in giving someone a CC that you are responsible for and not doing any monitoring other than asking them to tell you when they use it!  That's your call, of course, but in my mind that is a recipe for a disaster and certainly goes against good credit usage.  At the minimum you should be monitoring this account once a month at least (before the payment is due) just to confirm no charges have come in because your sister 'forgot' to tell you.  It might also be a good teaching point for her if you tell her the next time this happens the missed payment fee will be to her account.  Otherwise when she gets her own cards she'll think nothing of forgetting to pay the bill.  Just my take. 

[Takunda1]

---

@Lyythine wrote:

So, here's another stupid story in line with txjohns mistake... 

About two years back, I gave my sister a second card through one of my bank of america accounts.  I told her to use it when she needed it, just let me know so I could pay it off right away.

So fast forward to last week.  I get a credit alert from experian saying a new derog has been listed.  I log in, and sure enough - there is a 30 day late on one of my bank of america cards.  I promptly log into BofA and notice I have a $35 charge at Red Lobster and a nice $39 late fee.  I call BofA right away and say I didnt make this purchase.... yada yada yada -  They look and say "Mr. Lyythine, this card was swiped at the location..."

So - I call my sister and sure enough - It was her and she forgot to tell me.  Apparently her card was declined (ATM card) and so she used mine - no big deal - except for not telling me.

I never use that account and it is primarily for her while in college.  So, after talking to a supervisor at BofA and explaining the situation, He agreed to remove the 30day late, but I still had to pay the late fee (which I was more than ok with considering he was going to delete the 30day late).

So, just for kicks, I decided to pull my Equifax fico today before the late was removed - and OMG!!! 65pts for 1 30day late????!!!!!

Well, after about 5 min of me swearing at the computer and saying things that would make a sailor blush - I calmed down and will now wait for the late to be removed (which I got in writing btw, just in case).

Anyway, my sister now has implicit instructions, she must call PRIOR to making purchases and retain approval from the credit dept (AKA: ME) before she buys anything.

Just thought Id share my shock at such a large drop for such a small derog. 

---

Sign up for alerts via email or tex msg when a charge is made on the cc.

[haulingthescoreup]

I lost 50 points for a new 30-day, and that's when my EQ FICO was only 651.

Nothing like having a brand-new late --you get slaughtered on scores, because that marks you as a very high-risk customer in terms of default potential.

+1 to Takunda's post --that's a great idea. I wouldn't want to get e-mail alerts for every charge for a card that I used routinely, but for one that is mainly for an AU's use, that's a great solution.

[Lyythine]

I dont mind her having it - She is very responsible about using it for the most part.  And to the suggestion of looking at the account once a month - yes, I do that, however, like it was already said, It came in one day before statement date but I had already PIF for the previous month so, I wasnt going to pay it again till 3 days before new statement cuts and at that time, there was no payment due.  It was my mistake, I wasnt not taking responsibility...  Just giving the community some info. thats all.

[score_building]

didn't think you were not taking responsibility for what happened, sorry that it sounded that way and that i missed what you said the first time.  no harm meant in highlighting that regular acct checks can help prevent lates, though apparently in this case the late notice was an isolated event.

Lyythine wrote:
I dont mind her having it - She is very responsible about using it for the most part.  And to the suggestion of looking at the account once a month - yes, I do that, however, like it was already said, It came in one day before statement date but I had already PIF for the previous month so, I wasnt going to pay it again till 3 days before new statement cuts and at that time, there was no payment due.  It was my mistake, I wasnt not taking responsibility...  Just giving the community some info. thats all.

Message Edited by score_building on 08-12-2009 07:54 PM

[DI]

I'm glad you  got the late remove.  Anytime you allow someone to use your card, I would never depend on them telling me they used it.  I let a card of mines be use since I don't use it, and I check the account everyday.

I allow my mom to make a charge on the card once per month.  Therefore, I know to expect a charge.  Maybe you should think about allowing your sister to make a $30 charge once per month, that way the charge won't catch you off guard, and you won't have to worry about whether or not she use it and didn't tell you.