How to fix FICO score?

[Anonymous]

I've been trying to apply for credit card but keep getting deined...reason "Serious delinquency due to late payments". I have around $12K debt but every account was paid on time, never late. I have FICO score from my Discover card and it shows the reason I have 680 is becuase delinquency with late payment. How do i fix this?

[Anonymous]

You need to get a copy of your credit report and see which account(s) are showing late payments.  If you legitimately didn't pay them late, start by calling them and having them pull up your account and verify that everything has been on time, then ask them to report that correct information to the bureaus.  You can also initiate disputes.  Getting negative information removed that's indeed incorrect is much easier than trying to get correct negative information removed, so I'd think you'd be able to clear up the issue inside of a month, possibly in a week or two.  Step one though without question is to get your credit report.

Do you use any service online, even a basic one like Credit Karma?  If so you may be able to see which account(s) have reported late payments and when they were.

[RonM21]

I agree. You said you had 12k in debt but never late. Yet they are saying due to late payments. That certainly sounds like something is reporting late, if not multiple lates.

[Anonymous]

I have never had a late payment so I dont know this, but would they consider just one late payment a "serious delinquency"? To me that makes it sound like a pretty bad credit file, but I dont know for sure. OP, you definitely need to pull your credit reports though. You can do it free at annualcreditreport.com

[surferchris]

No serious delinquency usually means a charge off, or at least over 90 days late...just my opinion.  Maybe someone else can give better advice.

I would definitely take the earlier advice and go through your reports with a fine toothed comb...

[Anonymous]

Figuring this out should only take you a couple of minutes.  Sign up with Credit Karma if you haven't already... log in and go under the accounts section and it will list all of your accounts and along with them how many "late payments" are reported on them.  Find the one(s) that state there are late payments, and expand the account to see when the late payments were reported and what their severity was.  Determine if there's any way they could be valid.  Assuming they are not, contact the creditor and have a conversation about it.  A lot of times they'll be able to look into it immediately and adjust it quickly... if not, you'll have to file a dispute which from my experience only takes a couple of weeks to arrive at a resolution anyway.

[dawnm72174]

I have no late payments on any of my accounts but I do have one unpaid collection. On a recent denial letter, the company stated reason for denial was that I have a "serious delinquency due to late payments." I'd check your reports for any collection accounts as well as payment histories of your accounts.

If you do find a collection/charge off, visit the rebuilding board. Lots of amazing people there with great advice. Hope you figure it out soon

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

How do i fix this?

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You don't fix your FICO score (you don't have just one score anyway -- there are many FICO models used by creditors).  You fix your reports.  Start by pulling your reports and carefully reviewing them.