first time poster...

[Coltrane]

I'm not sure this is the right place to post, but here goes...my scores are good (TU 810, Equifax 776, Exp 786), but the lower two show the only negative factors being 3 accounts with late payments.  Checking the details, each of these 3 accounts reported one late payment (in Dec '03, Sept '04 and Nov '04, respectively).  When will these drop off my record, and is there anything I can do besides wait until that occurs  Thanks to all in advance --- it has been very educational reading these posts.

[cobaltnv]

Welcome to the Forum!

Your late payments will drop off after 7 years (Dec 2010; Sept 2011; Nov 2011). You could write good will (GW) letters to get them removed earlier.

How bad are these lates (30 day, 60 day, 90 day etc)?  Your scores are excellent so I am guessing that these are 30 day lates in which case they are not affecting your score any longer (so don't worry about them).

Cheers! 

[Coltrane]

thanks for the quick reply!  These were all 30-day lates, so they shouldn't be having much of an effect, but then I wonder why the Equifaxe and Experian scores are so much lower than Transunion?  I will try the Good Will letters and see if that helps.  Any ideas about the score discrepancies?  It just bugs me....

[cobaltnv]

There are two common reasons for differences between the 3 Fico scores. The most obvious is that your three reports may not all be identical. Small changes in number of accounts, average ave, utilization etc can have a large effect on scores.

Also, each agency has it's own flavor of formula for your Fico score. So even if all information is identical (which is rare) your scores will be different. Your scores span only ~35 points which is not too bad. Some have reported 75-100 point differences--although there is usually a good reason. 

I would suggest going carefully through each of your credit reports and see what the differences are between them. I am guessing you will find some.