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Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

I missed the payment accidentally (I missed the Oct. 09 payment due date, and then made the Nov. 09 payment in full, but late by 2 days).  BofA just indicated that they will report the missed payment to the credit bureaus (yes, I begged them not too)!

 

I seriously have been scouring the internet for my options.  So I am turning to you all. 

 

1. What can I do under the circumstances? (dispute? goodwill letter?)

 

2. How much will my score drop?  (more info: I use 2 credit cards monthly and pay them in full each month, I have no

default, no charge offs, except for the above - no missed payments in 12 years...) 

 

3. What can I hope in terms of bringing my score back up?

 

 

Thanks.

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
cdtotten
Established Contributor

Re: Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

You can contact them and request they forgive this one mistake. A goodwill letter is the way to go.

 

The effect on your score depends on your credit score. If your score is 700+ you might expect a large (30-50 pt) drop. If you are below, maybe 25-40 pts?

 

If the goodwill letter doesn't help, it will take a while for the effect of this ding to diminish. Your score is going to take a large hit and recover over a 2 year period for the most part. 


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Message 2 of 8
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

I lost 50 points for a late when my score was only 640-something. Smiley Sad

Start GW'ing now, and prepare to keep doing so every single month. If you have or had any plans for buying a house or a car, include this, and indicate that your mistake has destroyed this dream for the time being.

Grovel, grovel, grovel. Keep acknowledging that you realize that it was your fault. Don't send registered mail, etc. --it looks belligerent. If nothing else, ask them if they would be willing to cease reporting the late after 6 months of perfect payments.

If you haven't already, set up automatic payments on the BofA site of the minimum or minimum plus $20 or something. Don't rely on auto payments --they sometimes go haywire --but you want them to see that you are doing everything possible to make sure that they will always get their money on time.

In the meantime, set up some sort of reminder system that will work for you about your payment due dates. You can schedule it on Outlook calendar, or write it in a planner if you carry one, or note it on your Bookmarks tab (this is what I do), or anything else that will get your attention and make sure that all your payments go in.

I have monstrous adult ADHD, and I rely on visual cues to keep organized. The bookmarks tab (on Apple Firefox --Favorites for IE folks) is what works for me. Here's a screenshot of how I set it up:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&message.id=170526#M170526

Since I go online every single day, I just click on my Bookmarks tab and see what's coming up. As a PIF'er, these dates are my statement dates, rather than my due dates, but it would work either way. I think that if I were going to use due dates, I would subtract 7 days from each. So if a due date was on the 21st, I would mark it as the 14th, and so forth.

At any rate, with 12 years of clean history (that's a lot better than I can say!), you're obviously a responsible consumer otherwise. BofA CSR's can be frustrating, as they vary a lot in terms of knowledge and helpfulness. Oh, and don't let them tell you that it's illegal to remove lates. It's illegal to report a late that didn't happen, or report it as being worse than it was, but removing lates is just a violation of the lender's agreement with the CRA's. It is done quite often, but it can require an incredible amount of patience and diplomacy on your part.

Good luck!
Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 11-19-2009 02:37 PM
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 3 of 8
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

What are the specific dates?  What is the billing date and due date of the first payment missed, and when did you make payment?

Lates per se are not reported to a CRA, only lates that remain late for 30-days past the due date.

 

Message 4 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

I missed the first payment on Oct 14 or something like that.  The next payment was due Tuesday November 17th, but I made the payment (in full) the 19th.

 

Does that help your analysis?

Message 5 of 8
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

Yes, it clarifies.

The payment due Oct. 14th reached 30-days overdue as of Nov. 15th,. so is reportable as a 30-day late to the CRA as of that date because it was not paid within 30-days of the due date.

Being two days late on the November payment is a late, but not over 30-days, and thus is not a 60-day late.

So they can report one 30-day late to the CRA.

I would have broader concerns.  Creditors are slashing credit limits and even closing accounts whenever they see potential risk.

Two consecutive monthly lates wiill most probably already have driven your interest rates to whatever default rate they can use.

They may slash your CL, and thus further impact your credit score by increasing your overall % util.

The 30-day late, if reported, will initially hit your score for around 20 points, but will gradually reduce.

You need to send them a GW letter to remove the 30-day late. 

Dont send them a "my dawg just died, my wife just left me, I lost my job, the roof is a'leakin" etc., letter for that is just telling them to be more wary of your future credit status.

Rather, emphasize your long and sound credit history with them, and your benefit to them. Tell them just what you posted on here... no delinquencies on any accounts for more than a decade.  That is very impressive in showing that the lates were just an oversight, and not an indication of future risk.  I would hit hard on that.   Make them want to grant goodwill deletion because they can rely on money from you in the future.

 

 

Message Edited by RobertEG on 11-21-2009 04:03 AM
Message 6 of 8
Nebstrop
New Member

Re: Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

I have a very similar situation that is preventing me from refinancing. One missed payment about 35 total days overdue for only a 17$ balance (!!!!) dinged me 50 points. Tried by phone and they rejected, saying it was not allowed to remove the late. I will try the goodwill letters. How did OP make out?
Message 7 of 8
CashOnDelivery
Established Contributor

Re: Clean 12 year history but I just missed a payment!

This is an old post, so I'm not sure if the OP is still on this forum.

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Message 8 of 8
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