topic Re: Literally ONE late payment in Credit Cards

Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:19:06 GMT

I have credit history going back to 1993 and have NEVER missed a payment. Never had a late payment. In fact, I alway pay my bills early. Well, Chase did not receive my payment last month for whatever reason. So after having a spotless credit report for 15 years, I have my first late payment. I paid the account in full, like I do every month and included some extra just to insure that after all the finance charges and late fees that I have a ZERO balance with them. Do you think they care? No! I've had this card with them for over a year. I have another card with them that I've had for over three years. I also have my mortgage with them. Never missed a payment on any of these. I don't carry a balance on the credit cards. I use them just to earn the reward points. So I guess this is the only $100 they are going to make on me and they are not going to budge, even though I know they waive these fees for others. Idiots.

Any way, my question is this . . how will literally one late payment affect my credit score? My credit score is 763 right now. I've worked hard all my life to keep my credit good. I don't use credit unless I have to. And I have tried my hardest to keep it at it's best. So what can I expect after this one late payment posts to my report? Will it drop 5, 10, 50 points? Anyone know?

Thanks!

Re: Literally ONE late payment

athensguy — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:21:05 GMT

Was it 30 days late? If it was less than that, it may not show up on your credit report. If it does, you should expect a substantial drop, probably to below 700.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:25:08 GMT

Hi, welcome to the forums, sorry about the mess you find yourself in.

I would expect at least a 50-point drop if you actually went over the 30-day period, which different banks measure in different way, and they report it. After 2 years, it will be practically invisible.

I would have cheerfully paid Sears whatever they wanted in terms of late fees, if only they wouldn't have reported the late (which was my fault entirely.) They did agree to report just one 30-day instead of two back-to-back, which had resulted from their posting error. But there went 50 points, bang, just like that, and I was only at 640 EQ at the time.

If they did report it as a 30-day late, all you can do is send GW (goodwill) letters. Go to the General Credit forum or Rebuilding Your Credit, and look in the Frequently Requested Threads folder stickied at the top of those boards, and find the two threads on GW.

And as always, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 09-17-2008 01:25 PM

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:26:42 GMT

Payment was due on 8/31. I thought the payment was going to be there by 8/25. I checked the balance on 9/13 and was shocked to find out they hadn't posted the full payment. I sent them payment via my checking account on 9/16 for payment in full plus $200 to make sure it was paid in full. So the amount overdue, much less the amount on the account, was not on the account for 30 days.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:27:21 GMT

athensguy wrote:
Was it 30 days late? If it was less than that, it may not show up on your credit report. If it does, you should expect a substantial drop, probably to below 700.

I don't know about THAT big of a drop. You can be sure it will go down though, that is if it's reported.

I would recommend calling and asking to speak to a supervisor and explain to them everything you just explained to us. ESPECIALLY the fact that you have your mortgage and any other accounts with them. The more money they make off of you, the more they want your business.

Also, Chase does make money off of your interchange, so if you run a good amount through your card each month, you're in a better position to ask for leniency. If you don't get it, sit down and write a Good Will letter to them explaining your good performance in the past, why you missed this payment, why it won't happen again. Also be sure to mention that you're a good customer with several accounts at Chase. Then very nicely ask for them to remove the late from your record.

Many people on the forum have had success with Good Will letters. I'd recommend searching for good will letter to see if you can find some posts on people who succeeded in getting a late/CO/etc removed in the past.

Good luck!

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:29:04 GMT

There we go. I thought I remembered a post on example GW letters. Turns out I remembered right:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/crawl_message?board.id=generalcredit&message.id=2661

Re: Literally ONE late payment

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:29:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Payment was due on 8/31. I thought the payment was going to be there by 8/25. I checked the balance on 9/13 and was shocked to find out they hadn't posted the full payment. I sent them payment via my checking account on 9/16 for payment in full plus $200 to make sure it was paid in full. So the amount overdue, much less the amount on the account, was not on the account for 30 days.

Then if Chase plays fair (unlike Wells Fargo and some others), you're out the fees, but it shouldn't affect your scores, as it won't be reported.

You do need to watch out for them to rate-jack you (raise your APR.) Hope you don't carry balances.

Many of the big banks will waive penalties for a first-time offence, although it doesn't sound like you've found the right person yet. I'd keep trying, and sweet-talk them to death. good luck

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:30:13 GMT

Well, I've been nice to them. I really have. I've maintained a nice, level calm voice. And I'm sure they have flagged me as a trouble maker because I've called six times and have spoken with six people. The last time I called it said, "This call is being recorded". Not, "This call may be recorded". Oh well. I wasn't trying to be a pain in the butt. I was hoping that I would get a sympathetic person who might at least reverse the late payment if not the finance charges. I know they have done that for friends of mine. But like I said, telling them I pay the balance in full each month didn't help my case. They probably realize that this is the only money they are going to make off of me. If it wouldn't hurt my score further, I'd close the card just to prove my point. But I don't want to be the idiot.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

jmbfl — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:35:55 GMT

Keep your fingers seriously crossed. If we are only talking about a few days here chances are it will not be reported and all the damange will be internal with the issuer. If it does report be ready for some seriously bad news. With a high FICO a 50 point dump could be quite likely. Might cause a scoring bucket change, too.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:48:11 GMT

What's a scoring bucket?

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:59:19 GMT

Hopefully it won't report as a 30 day late at all on OP's reports.

However, I have used the score simulator and have entered in the scenario to see what would happen if I was 30 days late on one account and they projected a score drop range as high as 120 points!

Look:

Miss a Payment On a Current Account

Your current FICO® Score is 763

Your simulated FICO® score would be in the following range:

643 - 693

jaybird201 wrote:

athensguy wrote:
Was it 30 days late? If it was less than that, it may not show up on your credit report. If it does, you should expect a substantial drop, probably to below 700.

I don't know about THAT big of a drop. You can be sure it will go down though, that is if it's reported.

I would recommend calling and asking to speak to a supervisor and explain to them everything you just explained to us. ESPECIALLY the fact that you have your mortgage and any other accounts with them. The more money they make off of you, the more they want your business.

Also, Chase does make money off of your interchange, so if you run a good amount through your card each month, you're in a better position to ask for leniency. If you don't get it, sit down and write a Good Will letter to them explaining your good performance in the past, why you missed this payment, why it won't happen again. Also be sure to mention that you're a good customer with several accounts at Chase. Then very nicely ask for them to remove the late from your record.

Many people on the forum have had success with Good Will letters. I'd recommend searching for good will letter to see if you can find some posts on people who succeeded in getting a late/CO/etc removed in the past.

Good luck!

Re: Literally ONE late payment

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:03:19 GMT

Like I said, it was 50 points for me off of my already-wobbly 640 starting point.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:04:56 GMT

I could cry. This is so unfair. I have drafted a nice, apologetic letter to the corporate office asking for generosity. So we shall see. God has done bigger things. I don't mind paying the fees. It's a chance you take when you owe someone and rely on the post office to keep their end of the bargain. I just hate that it has to affect my credit so drastically. You don't get a 763 credit rating without being fiscally responsible. I just wish they would take that into consideration.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:08:21 GMT

Follow the advice of the others and speak to a supervisor and plead that they do not report as a late payment. They may not even do so, since it was only 2 weeks late, but I wouldn't just use the wait and see approach. I would def. be proactive about this. I wish you the best, you are totally right. ONE late payment does not deserve that kind of score ding!

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:44:06 GMT

I called one more time and spoke with a really nice supervisor (my third). He said the system literally won't let them change anything on the account. He said to mail a letter to the Corporate office, which I did today. And he gave me $10 extra in cash rewards, which is fine with me because I only needed $8 to get a rewards check. Completely happy? No. Happier? Yes.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:46:35 GMT

Oh - he said that they don't report to the agencies unless you are more than 60 days late. He said that they give you a notice they are going to report and if you are late again then they report you. He said since I was only 15 days late that it should not show on my credit report. I certainly hope he's right. I mean anyone can make a mistake. I would think they wouldn't want to be so quick to jump the gun on reporting a late payment, especially on an exceptional customer.

Thanks to everyone for your words of wisdom. I appreciate your help.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:12:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Oh - he said that they don't report to the agencies unless you are more than 60 days late. He said that they give you a notice they are going to report and if you are late again then they report you. He said since I was only 15 days late that it should not show on my credit report. I certainly hope he's right. I mean anyone can make a mistake. I would think they wouldn't want to be so quick to jump the gun on reporting a late payment, especially on an exceptional customer.

Thanks to everyone for your words of wisdom. I appreciate your help.

Whew, that's great (about not reporting.) They shouldn't, of course, but you'd amazed at how many CCC's would. I hope you get some love from Corporate. It's probably true about the CS level not being able to override the computers. Many CCC's have recently started restricting the abilities of customer service to create a little wiggle room, even for prime customers.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:26:21 GMT

Oh that is great news. That would truly have been a tragedy if your awesome scores were tanked due to one mishap.

Message Edited by UpUpUp on 09-17-2008 06:26 PM

Re: Literally ONE late payment

jbh — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:51:25 GMT

Hopefully that is the case. Mucho good luck to you.

Re: Literally ONE late payment

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:22:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hopefully it won't report as a 30 day late at all on OP's reports.
However, I have used the score simulator and have entered in the scenario to see what would happen if I was 30 days late on one account and they projected a score drop range as high as 120 points!
Look:
Miss a Payment On a Current Account
Your current FICO® Score is 763
Your simulated FICO® score would be in the following range:
643 - 693
@Anonymous wrote:

@athensguy wrote:
Was it 30 days late? If it was less than that, it may not show up on your credit report. If it does, you should expect a substantial drop, probably to below 700.

I don't know about THAT big of a drop. You can be sure it will go down though, that is if it's reported.
I would recommend calling and asking to speak to a supervisor and explain to them everything you just explained to us. ESPECIALLY the fact that you have your mortgage and any other accounts with them. The more money they make off of you, the more they want your business.
Also, Chase does make money off of your interchange, so if you run a good amount through your card each month, you're in a better position to ask for leniency. If you don't get it, sit down and write a Good Will letter to them explaining your good performance in the past, why you missed this payment, why it won't happen again. Also be sure to mention that you're a good customer with several accounts at Chase. Then very nicely ask for them to remove the late from your record.
Many people on the forum have had success with Good Will letters. I'd recommend searching for good will letter to see if you can find some posts on people who succeeded in getting a late/CO/etc removed in the past.
Good luck!

Holy crap! I thought FICO08 was supposed to make it where one late payment wouldn't hurt people who have generally been responsible with their credit. Remind me never to miss a payment.