One 30 late mortage - How long to recover?

[mithrildreams]

There was confusion this month on our mortgage payment and we ended up paying late.  My husband and I both took a 32 drop on Experian for a 30 day late.  I'm sure the other two will follow.  I seriously doubt they will GW and remove it. My question is how long will it take to recover from the mistake?  We wanted to sell and buy a new house this summer.  Will a larger down payment allow us to buy a new home? Is there anything we can do to offset this?

I'm so upset with myself about this.

[Anonymous]

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@mithrildreams wrote:

There was confusion this month on our mortgage payment and we ended up paying late.  My husband and I both took a 32 drop on Experian for a 30 day late.  I'm sure the other two will follow.  I seriously doubt they will GW and remove it. My question is how long will it take to recover from the mistake?  We wanted to sell and buy a new house this summer.  Will a larger down payment allow us to buy a new home? Is there anything we can do to offset this?

I'm so upset with myself about this.

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A 30 day late indicates that a second mortgage payment came due and the one prior still wasn't paid. A full 30 days after the payment due date has to lapse. It sounds like if it was just a small mixup, there shouldn't be a 30 day late remark. 

If it really was 30 days late, it will weigh less in 6 months, then a year, and so on. It will still be pretty damning this summer, score-wise.

[Anonymous]

OP, why do you think they wouldn't remove it with GW?  GW adjustments to mortgages are some of the easiest to get from my experience, especially if you are anywhere remotely near to the middle of your mortgage (a 30 year) as it means you've paid on time for a long time already (positive history) and you still have a long time to go being their customer.  If you send a GW letter and explain how you've been on time for X years so far and that you look forward to Y years of a great relationship going forward I think you stand a very good chance at seeing that minor 30 day removed.  Obviously, this depends on the lender. 

A 32 point drop is actually quite minor for a late payment when it initially hits your reports.  I've seen it more like twice that and 32 points being more of where you stand in a year or so.  All profiles are different though.  It will take 7 years for it to completely come off of your report though and will keep that account "negative" and your scoring bucket won't be favorable until it's completely gone, even if your score does rebound most of the way during that time.  It's always in your best interest to work on getting it removed.

[mithrildreams]

I am with Bank of America and they have a page ( GoodWill.) on their website that specifically says they won't. I'll ask on the mortgage page and see if they just post this to discourage you from asking.

Thanks for asking!  I hope I get a good answer.  My scores drop from 35-50 points from this.

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@Anonymous wrote:

OP, why do you think they wouldn't remove it with GW?  GW adjustments to mortgages are some of the easiest to get from my experience, especially if you are anywhere remotely near to the middle of your mortgage (a 30 year) as it means you've paid on time for a long time already (positive history) and you still have a long time to go being their customer.  If you send a GW letter and explain how you've been on time for X years so far and that you look forward to Y years of a great relationship going forward I think you stand a very good chance at seeing that minor 30 day removed.  Obviously, this depends on the lender. 

A 32 point drop is actually quite minor for a late payment when it initially hits your reports.  I've seen it more like twice that and 32 points being more of where you stand in a year or so.  All profiles are different though.  It will take 7 years for it to completely come off of your report though and will keep that account "negative" and your scoring bucket won't be favorable until it's completely gone, even if your score does rebound most of the way during that time.  It's always in your best interest to work on getting it removed.

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[Anonymous]

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@mithrildreams wrote:

I am with Bank of America and they have a page ( GoodWill.) on their website that specifically says they won't. I'll ask on the mortgage page and see if they just post this to discourage you from asking.

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No doubt that is there not really to discourage you from asking, but to let customers know that the expectation is that they will never make a late payment.  They will make GW adjustments though.  It may take some work, but they'll do it.  Just pressure them.  Use my Saturation Technique, which you can read about here:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/The-Saturation-Technique-Best-GW-adjustment-o...

It's in their best interest to grant someone an isolated GW adjustment.  You could refinance and move to a different lender if for any reason you aren't happy with BoA (even if it's ultimately "your fault" that you're angry with their service) and if you refinance you take away tens of thousands of dollars of profit from them.

How far into your mortgage are you?

[Anonymous]

There is probably another issue here besides the mortgage FICO.

Many mortgage programs require no mortgage delinquencies in the past 12 months as a condition of approval. Sometimes, written verification of payment history from the old mortgage company will be required; other times, the credit report might be enough.

There may be ways to proceed nonetheless... a reputable mortgage broker might have access to lenders with more flexible rules than the big banks', and FHA or similar programs might be more forgiving. I don't know. I would suggest asking for advice on the Mortgages forum here.

[mithrildreams]

Sorry for the late reply.  I was so upset I get to get away and clear my head.  I've had a mortgage with them for about 10 years.

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[mithrildreams]

I have been rebuilding for awhile now.  The only negative was the 30 day late which dropped my score 30-50 points overnight.  I am hoping time will help if I am not able to get a goodwill adjustment.  I had a year of work go down the drain with one mistake.

[Anonymous]

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@mithrildreams wrote:

I have been rebuilding for awhile now.  The only negative was the 30 day late which dropped my score 30-50 points overnight.  I am hoping time will help if I am not able to get a goodwill adjustment.  I had a year of work go down the drain with one mistake.

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There's no "if" you're not able to get the GW adjustment.  You need to change your mindset here.  It's like hitting the gym and going for your max rep, 90% of it is mental, so commit to yourself that you're going to get this late payment removed.  It's not IF, it's WHEN.  Utilize the Saturation Technique and your odds of getting it removed will increase considerably.  I was able to get 7 months of late history removed from my mortgage.  It took 3 different Rounds of GW letters to get them all off, but my mortgage is now clean so it was well worth it.  Who is your mortgage company?  Have you searched specifically for them?  You may find some threads buried in the rebuilding forum with people achieving favorable GW adjustment results with that specific lender.  I'd PM those people that have had results and ask them for any advice, contact info, etc.  A 30 day late is minor and if you've had 10 years of favorable history with them outside of that lone late payment I'd actually think your chances of getting it removed are extremely high and that it would be quite an easy feat.