First Late in 3 years

[Simplyme12]

As the title says, I haven't had an late payment in 3years.

Until January of this year. I am not sure of what happened, but I forgot to pay my Care Credit card for the month of January.

When did I remember? When I went to pay Februarys bill...on the February due date.

On this due date I submitted a payment that covered both January and February, I thought I was okay. That was until I got a letter from my bank saying the payment was reversed because I wasn't allowed to submit payments out of my savings account (the website allowed me to setup Care Credit, and allowed me to submit the payment even today it shows me that I sent a payment). So, when I got the letter I immediately submitted a payment from my checking account.

Because of experience when you miss a payment, I thought I was okay with the January payment.

I pulled a report not to long ago and boom there it is...January missed payment.

I called today to ask for some information regarding the payment and I believe the lady I spoke to was confused. She told me that my original payment went through and that my second payment did not. I know this to be false.

When I asked her about January, she told me that it was reported correctly because I didn't submit a payment for January.

Can someone explain to me how it works again...but I am lost.

Payments are due every 16th. Statements close on or about the 24th each month. If I missed my January payment, but paid January and February together on Februarys due date...should it still have been reported?

Is there anything I can do?

Any advice given is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Sadly, it is correct. You must pay it before the next payment becomes due, which sometimes can be even fewer than 30 days late. Think February-March.

[pipeguy]

Several thoughts come to mind and these are meant as constructive thoughts:

#1 if your payment date is the 16th you should pay your bill on the 10th or 12th which allows for minor posting errors, etc. Note that my wife tends to pay on the "due date" even though she has the funds to pay a week before - it drives me crazy since I'm the one that has to "fix" posting errors and carried interest that could have been avoided.

#2 set up minimum payment "auto pay" to ensure you are never late - most of the time if you make a payment it will override and scheduled auto payment, but check on this because some accounts will pull an auto-pay even if you've already paid that month assuming you carry balances. 

#3 not missing a payment in 3 years is not an achievement. That 3-year-old missed payment is just starting to no longer seriously affect your scores, you just renewed the damage and compounded it by allowing a "trend" of missed payment to populate your scores. Just think if you only miss 1 payment every 7 years your report will always show "Person X has a missed payment on their record". Most people that achieve high FICO scores have never missed a payment or perhaps one every 20-30 years.  

I understand that a misunderstanding and/or mistake is not the same as not having the funds to pay, but your lender and scoring don't care, either is a missed payment. It is also your responsibility to read and adhere to the terms of your account which are all those fine print interest-payment-legal pages most people don't read when they check "I agree to the terms" during the application process. One advantage of showing a clean credit report with zero past due remarks is that companies that value your business will tend to be "kinder" in considering your history for goodwill adjustments. 

Bottom line, you can call and talk to a supervisor and plead your case - if you are very lucky they'll do a one-time "adjustment" and remove the 30-day past-due ding. Say it was "probably" my fault because I didn't know my bank would not pull from my savings account - I should have double checked I just assumed it was paid on time and when I saw it wasn't I immediately doubled up my payment to cover both months. Be nice, be respectful and if they say "no" thank them for their time and hearing you out - then call back next week and try it again.

Best of luck I'm rooting for you 

[Simplyme12]

Thanks for the input.

Just a note...3 years with no missed payments actually is an achievement. I had no other missed payments.

[Simplyme12]

Thanks

[pipeguy]

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@Simplyme12 wrote:
Thanks for the input.

Just a note...3 years with no missed payments actually is an achievement. I had no other missed payments.

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If you meant to say the only missed payment you've ever had (assuming you have only had credit for 3 years) I'd revise my comments somewhat since I read it as the first one you've had in 3 years meaning 3 years ago was your last missed payment.