What if I'm 30 days late on a mortgage payment?

[Anonymous]

Recently my wife lost her job. She was fired and long story short, it was a stupid reason. She filed for unemployment, the company disputed it, she's appealing the dispute. She's been on 7 job interviews since she was fired (3 weeks ago), 2 of them were very positive interviews that led to follow-ups, but then ultimately she wasn't chosen for the position. She has an interview today that seems to be very positive as well...

However, if she doesn't get this job, we're looking at being late on our next mortgage payment by 30 days if another one doesn't come along quickly. We've even contacted our mortgage provider and asked them if we could defer a payment and they refused and said they wouldn't help us with anything until we have proven we're in "distress" by missing payments.

I've been working hard at getting my credit scores back up from my early days of not caring. I managed to get back up to around 628 from the low 500's and I'm a bit concerned what may happen in this situation. I know it will hurt my credit, but I don't know how bad it will hurt it and for how long it will hurt it. I've heard anywhere from "It's just a ding and you'll be back to normal in 6 months." to "It's 30 points deducted and you won't recover until it falls off of your credit!" I have a feeling that both of these are a bit on the extreme... What can I expect?

Also, would it make more sense to be 30 days late on our mortgage or 30 days late on a few credit cards? What would hurt the less and what would I be able to make up for quicker?

[CreditDrama85]

in a situation like this, it is best to pick 2-3 credit cards  with manageable balances to never be late on (depending on how many you have); but to make your mortgage your first priority.

let the credit cards be late, just dont let them charge-off. although being 30 days late on your mortgage may not seem bad, it will be harder to catch up vs. bringing a credit card current.

people with a good mortgage history can usually get things financed regardless of how well they have paid other accounts. it shows they are stable.

just my 2 cents

[Anonymous]

My wife was responsible for half the mortgage as was I. I have a budget laid out that will get us caught up within 2 months and if she gets a job soon, even sooner...

What I'm worried about is how it will look on our credit. We have 9 credit cards between the two of us. Would not paying says 5 of those credit cards for 30 days look worse than not paying 1 mortgage payment for 30 days?

[_andClimbing]

I can't answer your question directly, but this might help. When I lost my job last year, I called all of my credit card companies and they were all willing to work with me on the payments. I was put in reduced payment programs on all of them for a few months. I was making very low ($20) payments, which allowed me to stay current with them. If your mortgage lender isn't willing to work with you, maybe the CC companies will...

Good luck, I hope everything turns around for you and yours quickly.

[Anonymous]

Good idea. I will give that a shot. Currently all of my credit cards are at very low payments ($15 - $25) but my wife's are all up in the hundreds. If we can get 3 of those down to lower payments that would help.

When did they up your monthly payment again? Did you tell them to up it or did they do it on their own?

[fused]

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CreditDrama85 wrote:

people with a good mortgage history can usually get things financed regardless of how well they have paid other accounts. it shows they are stable.

just my 2 cents

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Homeownership is a BIG plus with creditors, but I disagree with the rest of your post. There are countless homeowners that get denied for loans and CCs because of poor payment history.

[_andClimbing]

I was given a grace for a defined interval - I think it was between 4 and 6 months, depending on the creditor. They also gave me a lower APR during that time frame.

Caution - I was required to close one account in order to get into this program. At the time, though, I chose to close it rather than take the risk of defaulting. Some creditors were not willing to help with reduced payments, but the ones that were offset my monthly expenses by enough money that I was able to keep up anyway.

I also contacted my auto lenders and asked them to take one payment and move it to the end of my loan. It cost a small fee, but it was also a big help, and they will do this twice a year as long as I don't make late payments in between.

Perhaps your mortgage lender will be willing to do the same if you call back and propose it as a solution. I've heard that some mortgage lenders will do this occasionally upon request, but don't have any experience with them.

Fingers crossed for you.

[Anonymous]

Did you sign up for that payment protection stuff that CCC offer? It covers involuntary unemployment. My inlaws had that on their mortgage as well. When the company my MIL worked for shut down, it picked up the payment for X months.

Check all of your terms and agreements with your creditors.