Having a late payment on your credit report can cause all kinds of problems Worst of all, it can completely tank your credit score and render you unable to obtain any credit. Late payments remain on your credit file for a number of years, seven years to be exact. However, if you know what to do, you can significantly shorten this time.
In this article, we will take a look at how to go about getting late payments removed from your credit report.
A late payment will be recorded on your credit history. Your payment history comprises a significant chunk (35%) of your overall FICO score. As with other similar information that finds its way onto your credit file, late payment reports will remain on your file for a period of seven years. However, the impact that late payment has on your credit score will deteriorate over time.
If you only have a single late payment on your report, this is something that you can probably recover from fairly easily; all you need is a few months of meeting all of your obligations. Of course, this assumes that your credit report is otherwise clean. If it isn’t, it might take a little while longer to get back to normal.
The good news is that there are a number of things you can do about a late payment on your credit report.
First of all, if the late payment is an error then you can dispute it. Mistakes happen with the credit reporting system and in some cases, there is also fraud at work. Whatever the cause, if there is a late payment mark on your record that you think shouldn’t be there then explain the situation to the bank or creditor. They will usually need to conduct some form of investigation to verify your situation, but then they will refund fees and remove the mark.
If the creditor themselves is refusing to adjust the late payment mark, you need to escalate your case to the credit bureau. Through the credit bureau, you can dispute any marks on your record. The bureau will launch an investigation into the creditor. If the creditor does not respond, then you will win the case and the mark will be removed. However, they will usually respond to the bureau, so the process is difficult.
Capital One is an example of a common creditor. If you’ve ever missed a payment on a credit card or other bill, you may have been contacted by Capital One seeking to recover the debt. Write to Capital One to explain the situation, especially if you think that the late payment is an error. If this is the case, Capital One may well remove the late payment for you. If they can’t or won’t, you will need to escalate your case to the consumer credit bureau.
Removing a late payment from your credit report can be a long and difficult process, but it is worth it. If you see a late payment mark that you believe is an error, contact the consumer customer bureau straight away. You don’t want to take any chances when it comes to your finances.