Can I fight a late payment ding on my credit score?

[santagirl4]

This is the first time I have had a late payment in over 10 years. It caused my score to drop. I spoke to the credit card comopany but they say that once reported, they can do nothing to mitigate the damage. Would appreciate advice.

[DaBears]

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@santagirl4 wrote:

This is the first time I have had a late payment in over 10 years. It caused my score to drop. I spoke to the credit card comopany but they say that once reported, they can do nothing to mitigate the damage. Would appreciate advice.

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Hi santagirl4 and welcome to the forums!! I would call back and talk to someone else. Explain to them what happen. They have the power to remove the late. 

Community Leader, 

DaBears

[RobertEG]

Is their reporting accurate?

Was the payment simply late, or did it arise to a reportable late?

Late payments dont become reportable until they are more than 30 days past the billing due date, not the billing date, so you have a thirty day period where you can legitimately be late under your account agreement, but it is not a reportable late.

If you have any issues over whether the payment was actually late under your account agreement, you can file a formal dispute with them under the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA). 

[santagirl4]

Thanks to both responders for ansewring so quickly! After hearing from DaBears this morning, I called Bank of America back and told them that both this message board and Equifax said that they could remove the report.. Now they say I had two late payments -- the recording I got when I signed on yesterday only mentioned one. The manager who called me early this morning only mentioned one. The credit report only lists one so far. They say that removing the report would create a falsehood.

The payments are definitely late. I had scheduled automatic minimum payments each month, but the balance got too high. So, they were insufficient. I paid the complete bill this morning.

Equifax suggested that I file a dispute.

I'm beginning to feel like I just have to live with this. My score went from 805 to 722. So, it's not the end of the world. How long before it starts to rise again? Will a dispute work?

[DaBears]

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@santagirl4 wrote:

Thanks to both responders for ansewring so quickly! After hearing from DaBears this morning, I called Bank of America back and told them that both this message board and Equifax said that they could remove the report.. Now they say I had two late payments -- the recording I got when I signed on yesterday only mentioned one. The manager who called me early this morning only mentioned one. The credit report only lists one so far. They say that removing the report would create a falsehood.

The payments are definitely late. I had scheduled automatic minimum payments each month, but the balance got too high. So, they were insufficient. I paid the complete bill this morning.

Equifax suggested that I file a dispute.

I'm beginning to feel like I just have to live with this. My score went from 805 to 722. So, it's not the end of the world. How long before it starts to rise again? Will a dispute work?

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Filing a dispute through the CRA's to the OC will tank your scores even more. Each late will fall off after 7 yrs from the month/year it occured then making the account positive again. If it was just a 30 day late it will only imact your score for about 2 yrs then starting losing its punch.

[santagirl4]

Thanks!

[guiness56]

Filing a dispute on an OC account will impact your score only during the dispute process.  Once the process is complete, your score would go back to predispute score.

However, since they seem to be valid late payments, a dispute would not be the way to go.  You are not supposed to dispute accurate information.

Sending a GW letter to the CEO or someone in the company may work better for you.