Credit Bureau Reporting

[BigTexMex]

Hello,  has anyone had experience with OneMain Financial reporting 30 days late if no payment was received during the month?I was under the impression that 30 days meant if payment was due 10/15 and they received it 11/16 that was late.  A rep claims if no payment is received during the month of payment due it is considered late in their book.   Anyone have any insight on this? Is this legal?

[Vinjints]

Late payment is not a 30-day late reported to the credit bureaus. 

Let's say you pay 12 days after the due date. They will probably give you a $40 late payment penalty. This should not show up on a credit report. 

If you're 40 days late, you get the same penalty plus the derog on your credit reports. 

[Vinjints]

Did it actually show up on your report? Late in their book *should mean that you probably owe a late fee. 30 days late payment should be the only time it's actually reported late to the credit bureaus. 

[LIGHTNIN]

A late fee is charged, if you pay after the cutoff time of the due date. 

This is what happened to me earlier this year.I have a Citi bank CC, I paid at 1145pm on the due date.  Next month I received a late fee. I called said "No way it was late."

They checked the time, gave me a refund. Lesson learned always check statements,  CCC'S are sneaky 😮

[BigTexMex]

Not yet.  I have a personal loan with them and my payment was due 10/15.  Well, they will start calling on the 16th looking for payment.  I finally answered them yesterday and told the rep I would be paying the payment around 11/5, still under the 30 days from the due date of 10/15.  Her response was, " just to let you know, if we don't receive a payment before 10/31 we will be reporting a 30 day late payment since we didn't receive payment during the month it was due.  I tried to inform her I legally had till 11/14 to pay before she could report me 30 days late. At least that's the impression I'm under......

[JoeRockhead]

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@BigTexMex wrote:

Not yet.  I have a personal loan with them and my payment was due 10/15.  Well, they will start calling on the 16th looking for payment.  I finally answered them yesterday and told the rep I would be paying the payment around 11/5, still under the 30 days from the due date of 10/15.  Her response was, " just to let you know, if we don't receive a payment before 10/31 we will be reporting a 30 day late payment since we didn't receive payment during the month it was due.  I tried to inform her I legally had till 11/14 to pay before she could report me 30 days late. At least that's the impression I'm under......

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She was either misinformed, or trying to scare you.  You are correct. 

15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(A) says:

“A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the information is inaccurate.”

If they were to report you before you are technically 30 days late, it would be a violation of the above law. 

[JoeRockhead]

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@LIGHTNIN wrote:

A late fee is charged, if you pay after the cutoff time of the due date. 

This is what happened to me earlier this year.I have a Citi bank CC, I paid at 1145pm on the due date.  Next month I received a late fee. I called said "No way it was late."

They checked the time, gave me a refund. Lesson learned always check statements,  CCC'S are sneaky 😮

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Talk about sneaky.  Just for all the folks at home, all lenders don't follow the rule of using midnight as the end of a business day.  Many of them have different cutoff times, which is permitted... as long as they're reasonable, and that time has been disclosed (cardmember agreement, etc).  The CFPB and the Federal Reserve have consistently viewed 'reasonable' as 5:00 pm, local time.   Local time would be where the creditor processes the payment, not where the customer is.  So, if for example you're dealing with a lender who processes on the east coast and has a cutoff time of 5:00 pm, and you are on the west coast, your cutoff time is 2:00 pm.

I suppose there could be some state laws that further regulate this, but I'd say it's probably best not to push the boundaries if one can help it.  Who wants the hassle of arguing technicalities?  Not this guy.   

[BigTexMex]

@JoeRockhead , thanks for the specific code where she can look it up herself before she gets OneMain in a class action lawsuit.......