I paid my citi card 6 days late!

[Anonymous]

I always pay ontime or early. Always.  My father was killed in a car accident on 9/09.  I was just checking my accounts and saw where I had not paid it. It was due on the 10th. I paid it tonight.  Will this screw me?  Will they jack up my rate?  I have 5% right now which is awesome.  Any BTDT?

TIA.  I feel so stupid. I don't want to lose my low rate.

[Anonymous]

You do not have to worry about the late hitting your CR's but they might raise your APR. Call and explain what happened and maybe you'll get someone on the phone with a heart and they just leave your APR where it is. The apartment building I was leaving in burned down and I ended up paying a couple of cards late but after I called and explained why I was late nothing negative happened to my accounts.

[kittygal]

My deepest sympathy on the sudden loss of your father.  It is understandable that you would not be concentrating on bill pay dates during such a catacylismic event.

I would contact the CC company (first thing in the morning) and inform them of your situation and see if any good will exists in this situation.  Hopefully they may be more understanding given the circumstances and forgo any potential late fee.

You paid the amount due before 30 days late, so it will not likely affect your credit score as they will not report late payments prior to 30 days.

For the future it might be helpful to set up automatic payments so that the bills are paid when due and gives you some peace of mind.  It has worked very well for me and I recommend it highly.

Again, condolences on the loss of your father.  

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your responses.  I was 1 day late once over 2 years ago and my rate jumped from 0 to 24%.  I contacted them and they changed it back.  Since I haven't done it in 2 years maybe they'll be kind.  I'm going to set up automatic bill pay for peace  of mind though.

[jackg]

You're not late until you exceed the grace period which varies with creditors. The most common are 25 or 30 days. They probably will rate jack you along with a late fee.

[Anonymous]

hi FarmgirlinWV:

What you could do is called Citi and explain your situation for the miss/late payment? I'm sure they understand your loss and your situation. I dont think anyone would say NO if you ask them sincerely..

Hope my advise help and give it a shot!

[haulingthescoreup]

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. That's tragic. I hope your family is beginning to move through your loss.

You might want to have a copy of the obituary or funeral program available to fax in, in case they gently question you. But I'd like to think that Citi is a decent enough bank to reverse any charges and rate jacks.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

To clarify, there are two kinds of lates to worry about:

Late with the bank: this is where you don't get your minimum payment in and credited by the due date. Potential consequences: late fee, rate jack, loss of good rates on BT's etc.

Late reported to the CRA's: this is where you haven't made your minimum payment by the time the next statement comes around. (You might have to pay the minimum plus any late fees; I don't know.) Potential consequences: your bank reports this as a new 30-day late to the CRA's, you lose 50 points PDQ, other creditors see it and freak out, and the dominos start falling.

So the basic difference is whether you missed making your minimum payment for one statement or for two.

[Anonymous]

Write them a letter and they will remove it.

There are 3 things I know of that will work most of the time

1) Death in the family

2) Travel outside the country

3) Post office not forwarding mail.

Keep getting paper statements, unless they charge for it.

Electronic is not as effective a reminder as paper is.

Besides, paper is easier to read than cyber doing your taxes

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! They said they would not charge me the fee.  I get my next statement on Friday. I'll see what happens w/ the IR.  Hopefully they won't raise it.  CS made a notation on my account as to what happened.  I've been very pleased w/ Citi so far.

[Uborrow-Upay]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Write them a letter and they will remove it.

There are 3 things I know of that will work most of the time

1) Death in the family

2) Travel outside the country

3) Post office not forwarding mail.

Keep getting paper statements, unless they charge for it.

Electronic is not as effective a reminder as paper is.

Besides, paper is easier to read than cyber doing your taxes

---

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