Late Payment Removal Help

[Skywalker]

Hello all,

I've been trying for the past few weeks to see if my old local credit union will in good will remove 2-3 late payments that resulted in the closure of a secured card with them. They're subsequent late payments, so a 30, 60, and 90 day. It occurred while I was in basic training for the Army and admittedly was my fault for not setting up my auto-pay correctly. Once I found out I immediately made good with them and was ok with the account closure, but now that I'm rebuilding I'm hopeful to try to get the late payments removed.

When I called (twice), the bank initially stated they would refer it to their card department. I got no response. On the second call (last week) the person I spoke to seemed unclear with what exactly I was asking for and it seemed to go nowhere. I haven't leveraged my military service apart from just stating that it occurred when I had extremely limited access to my phone, and am unsure of if there's more that I can do.

At one point they told me that I would have to reopen an account with them, but I'm not sure what that would do since this is an old account where the closure happened in early 2025.

[dahx]

It'll probably help if you provided the CUs name.

Instead of calling, I would:

send them certified mail asking for forgiveness. Be very polite, and provide proof that you were away on duty.

I'm not military or a vet so I have no idea what recourse there might be there.

[JoeRockhead]

If the late payments occurred after you were on active duty, the SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) can come into play.  It doesn't automatically remove late payments, and generally requires the service member to properly notify the lender and provide proof of service with copy of orders, or DD214. 

If the account otherwise had a positive payment history,  as suggested above, a letter requesting a goodwill deletion of the late payments might be the easier path (Vs the SCRA) and often have a better chance of being granted than non military service GW requests. 

In your letter, do just as you've done here, acknowledge the snafu, politely explain the circumstances (attach proof of service), point out that you made it right as soon as you were aware, etc...  It may take more than one attempt so be prepared to continue your goodwill campaign until your letter hits the right desk.   

If you'd share which CU this was maybe someone will be able to tell you the best department to send your letters to. 

[Skywalker]

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@JoeRockhead wrote:

If the late payments occurred after you were on active duty, the SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) can come into play...

If you'd share which CU this was maybe someone will be able to tell you the best department to send your letters to. 

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The second two late payments, the 60 and 90 day hit while I was in basic. The 30 day I believe might've hit while i was in basic but I'm unsure of it was a few days before. I want to avoid saying the CU as it's a pretty small one and identifies where I'm from lol, but I'll take your advice and send in official mail with documentation supporting that I was on duty at the time. 

These are the primary things supressing my FICO so hopefully I can get them removed.