What does "Potentially Negative" mean on open account?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

     This is my first post so I hope it's done correctly.   I have 2 Capital One cards and have paid both on time for 5 years now and I monitor my credit report thru USAA. I received an alert from the credit monitoring service and went online to check it and I have  "Potentially Negative" on my report from Capital One on both of my accounts and I don't quite understand why or what that means.   My last bill was due on May 1st and I paid it 2 days late on May 3rd because I was unable to pay anything due to the big Tornado that hit us on April 27th and we were without power, no cell service, and had to move to another home. My credit report for payment history shows perfect with 0 late.  What really confuses me is there is now another potentially negative dated for June 1st for both Capital One accounts and June is not even here yet and the payment was made over a week ago. 

Can anyone tell me what this means or how long it stays on the report?  My score dropped 54 points since this happened.  Also do credit card companies put "Potentially Negative" on reports the very next day your payment is missed?  I have never had this happen before.

Thank You,

Tracy

[Anonymous]

It very well could be the late payment. Given your history with them, I would write them a GW letter explaining the reason why you were unable to make the payment, asking them to remove the late payment reporting and report it as on time.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your response  So it's normal for credit card companies to post negative on credit report for being 2 days late?  I have just never seen that happen before.  I really don't understand why the June payment is already posted as "Potentially Negative" when its still May and I have 0 due. 

I am getting ready to call Capital One now and I will post the response.  I wanted to find out what "Potentially Negative" was all about before speaking with them.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Yeah, obviously you'll wanna find out what the negative information is before taking any further action. Given the information you've provided, my only conclusion is that they reported a late payment.

[Rvan1961]

For one month I had "Potentially Negative" on all 6 of my student loans. Come to find out, Wells Fargo was just in the process of selling my loans to ACS and the next month they were all reported correctly. Hopefully, yours is a 'glitch' like mine and when the CRA doesn't know what is going on it seems this is what they report. This was only on my TU report, the others were correct.

It's a shame they don't have a "Potentially Positive".

[Anonymous]

Well I called Capital One and finally found out what the "Potentially Negative" was on my credit file.  The representative said that anytime you go over your credit limit even by $1 they will report "Potentially Negative" on your credit file because you are now in default of your credit card agreement and they will report this every month until your credit card is below the limit. They could not tell me how long it stays on your file.  I was $23 over my limit on one card and $35 on the other. However this over limit amounts were due to the new program they offered me where I could use the card over my credit limit if needed but there would be a 1 time charge of $20 if my card went over.  I took this program only because they would not give a credit line increase and I needed funds to help replace items lost in the big Tornado that hit us the end of April.  The representative did not tell me at the time it would affect my credit and they did send a letter to the credit companies to have the "Potentially Negative" removed. 

Thank you for the responses:-)

[chaniilove19]

I dislike this rule...my balance just went over because of the annual fee, i was alerted the same day, made a payment to bring it under the same day, and yet today, when the payment was made and completed 3 days ago, i got an alert that they reported potentially negative info on my experian report. I hope the damage is undone once it is reported as below the limit again...and I know I shouldn't be that close to the limit in the first place but our cards are all high right now due to a death in the family requiring out of state travel for my 6 person family during the holidays. it was extremely expensive and unexpected and we had to help with final arrangement costs as well. I will contact capital one and see if they can send a letter to remove the potentially negative flag since I have already remedied the balance.

[titanofold]

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@chaniilove19 wrote:

I dislike this rule...my balance just went over because of the annual fee, i was alerted the same day, made a payment to bring it under the same day, and yet today, when the payment was made and completed 3 days ago, i got an alert that they reported potentially negative info on my experian report. I hope the damage is undone once it is reported as below the limit again...and I know I shouldn't be that close to the limit in the first place but our cards are all high right now due to a death in the family requiring out of state travel for my 6 person family during the holidays. it was extremely expensive and unexpected and we had to help with final arrangement costs as well. I will contact capital one and see if they can send a letter to remove the potentially negative flag since I have already remedied the balance.

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This is an old thread you resurrected.

If you get a CLI on your card that high balance won't be an issue any more. You can request a CLI through the web site.