The short answer is that it varies wildly according to what shape your reports are in otherwise, how new the late is, how bad the late is, how many other lates you have, how old your history is, and on and on.
Roughly:
- a 30 day hurts hard for 6 months and then starts to fade; after 2 years it's practically harmless.
- a 60 day hurts hard for 2 years, fading somewhat throughout this time, and then it is treated as if it is a 30.
- 90's and above are bad, period. I do have a 90 that is a big over 2 years old, plus some random 30's scattered about, and you can see my scores below.
When a 30 or a 60 falls off after 7 years, you might not see a lot happen, unless it was the only baddie you had left. When the others, which are major derogatories, fall off, you could see a big change, again depending on whether you still have other problems on your reports.
fwiw, when a 30 newly posted to my reports last May, I lost 50 points, bam like that, dropping down to the 590's in EQ, and that was about a year and a half ago. So things do improve with time. I have never managed to get anyone to show mercy and stop reporting my lates, so there they are, my little scars from credit war wounds. Time fixes just about everything in the credit world.
* 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