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Hi Folks,
How long do late payments on Credit Cards affect?
In October I was out of the country and could not make a Citicard payment which ended up 30 days late. Now I have set autopay to the account. I tried goodwill but they would not remove the baddie.
Last month I had a 30 day late with PENFED.
How long would the the lates affect my score? I need to refinance my house mortgage for a lower rate.
Thanks in advance.
Chanduwar
If they are present on your CR, they are adversely impacting your scores.
You said you tried GW unsuccessfully. It sounds like you only tried once. Sometimes it can take many, many attempts to receive a favorable GW result. It took me 100+ letters with certain lenders to get them, so definitely try try again.
As an aside, you stated that you were 30D late due to being out of the country, but then referenced another 30D late more recent than that (seemingly not for the same reason as the first). That suggests a pattern of late-payment behavior, something you're going to want to reel back in immediately. Autopay on all accounts would be a good start along with just re-prioritizing your credit goals, IMO.
I've heard many many times on this forum that 30 days hurt less the older they are, but I don't think it's true. My EX and TU scores are 730 and 751 respectively, and my EQ is 695. My EQ is the only one that has a 30 day late (which was goodwilled and why it's not on the other 2, but EQ just won't freaking delete it no matter how many time they're told!). So, as you can see, it's caused about a 30-50 point difference just having that one 30 day late, and the late payment is almost 6 years old.
As with everything credit, YMMV, but this is just my personal experience.
An aged 30D late will impact most profiles around 35 points, which lands in the range your referenced above. A single 30D late will impact score less around the 2 year mark, but the remaining sting of about 1/3 the initial hit will remain until the 7 year mark when it falls off.