With so many bills to keep track of, it can be easy to miss a payment. A late payment can be no big deal if you catch it right away, but the longer your bill is past due, the greater risk it poses to your credit.
Late payments can appear on your credit report and stay there for seven years. In addition to hurting your credit, late payments can also cost you money. First-time late fees cost up to $29 and that rises up to $40 for subsequent missed payments made within six billing cycles.
If you recently missed a payment, here’s what you need to know about the impact of late payments on your credit.
How long do late payments stay on your credit report?
Late payments remain on your credit reports for seven years from the original date of the delinquency. Even if you repay overdue bills, the late payment won’t fall off your credit report until after seven years. And no matter how late your payment is, say 30 days versus 60 days, it will still take seven years to drop off.
Since payment history is the most important factor of your credit score, one late payment can make a big impact on your credit. However, the impact of a late payment lessens over time, especially if it's only a one-time mistake and you counteract it with on-time payments. You have a 30-day window to repay a late bill before it appears on your credit report. Anything more than 30 days will likely cause a dip in your credit score that can be as much as 180 points.
Here are more details on what to expect based on how late your payment is:
- Payments less than 30 days late: If you miss your due date but make a payment before it’s 30 days past due, you’re in luck. Creditors don’t report a late payment to the credit bureaus until it’s 30 days past due. However, you may still incur a late fee.
- Payments 30 or more days late: Once a late payment is 30 days overdue, it will appear on your credit report. You’re still responsible for making up the missed payment, so repay it as soon as possible.
- Payments more than 60 days late: If you don’t repay the late payment and miss your next due date, a 60-day late notice will appear on your credit report. This can hurt your credit score even more. And if you miss several payments, more notices will show on your credit report, your debt may be sent to a collection agency and your creditor will likely close your account.
Late payments appear on your credit report under the account that you haven't paid. So if you're behind on a credit card, there will be a note in that section of your report saying you're 30, 60, or 90 days late (and so on).
How to avoid late payments
Some credit cards have no late fees, like the Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card. But a late payment still puts you at risk of hurting your credit score. Card issuers report your payment to the credit bureaus if it's 30 or more days late, regardless if they waive late fees.
To prevent negative information appearing on your credit report, learn how to avoid late payments by following these steps.
Set up autopay
The simplest way to prevent late payments is to set up autopay. It only takes a minute to set up autopay and customize your payment for the minimum due, your total statement balance or another amount.
Set payment reminders
If you don’t want to set up autopay, create calendar reminders or opt-in to text and email alerts through your creditors. You can choose alerts for when your statement is available, when your payment is due in a set number of days, when your payment posts and more. Note that these options may vary by creditor.
Change your payment due date
You likely have a handful of bills to pay each month, which means your due dates are spread out over the month. It can be hard to keep track of multiple due dates, so consider adjusting your payment due dates as needed. You can make your bills due on the same day or right after you get paid.
Read more
When is a credit card payment considered late?
Credit card late fees can cost up to $40—here are 8 cards that don't charge them
Petal 2 Visa Credit Card issued by WebBank.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
FAQs
The effects of late payments are long-lasting but not permanent. A late payment will be removed from your credit reports after seven years. However, late payments generally have less influence on your credit scores as more time passes.
How long does it take late payments to fall off a credit report? ›
How long does a late payment affect credit? A late payment will typically fall off your credit reports seven years from the original delinquency date.
Can I recover from late payments on credit report? ›
It might take three to five months of strong payment history to get the score to turn around, Jackson says. Missed payments will stay on your credit record for seven years from the date of activity, "but that doesn't mean the impact on your credit score is there for the duration of the seven years," McClary says.
Can you have a 700 credit score with late payments? ›
It may also characterize a longer credit history with a few mistakes along the way, such as occasional late or missed payments, or a tendency toward relatively high credit usage rates. Late payments (past due 30 days) appear in the credit reports of 33% of people with FICO® Scores of 700.
What happens after 7 years of not paying debt? ›
The debt will likely fall off of your credit report after seven years. In some states, the statute of limitations could last longer, so make a note of the start date as soon as you can.
Can I get a late payment removed? ›
Unfortunately, an actual late payment is nearly impossible to remove from your credit report even if you were able to convince your card issuer to waive any fees you may have been charged.
How to ask for late payment forgiveness? ›
A goodwill letter is a formal letter to a creditor or lender, such as a bank or credit card company, to request forgiveness for a late payment or other negative item on your credit report. In the letter, you typically: Explain the circ*mstances that led to the late payment or issue.
How long to rebuild credit after late payment? ›
How long does it take for your credit score to go up?
| Event | Average credit score recovery time |
|---|
| Missed/defaulted payment | 18 months |
| Late mortgage payment (30 to 90 days) | 9 months |
| Closing credit card account | 3 months |
| Maxed credit card account | 3 months |
3 more rowsJul 27, 2023
Credit score distribution: How rare is an exceptional 800 to 850 score?
| FICO® Score range | Percent within range |
|---|
| 650-699 | 12% |
| 700-749 | 17% |
| 750-799 | 24% |
| 800-850 | 23% |
4 more rowsMay 31, 2023
If you're more than 30 days late
Thirty days late is bad, but it's not as bad as 60, which is not as bad as 90. The sooner you can catch up, the less damage to your credit. When your account is current, you can contact the creditor or write a goodwill letter asking it to remove the negative mark.
If you are struggling with debt and debt collectors, Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC can help. As soon as you use the 11-word phrase “please cease and desist all calls and contact with me immediately” to stop the harassment, call us for a free consultation about what you can do to resolve your debt problems for good.
Should I pay off a 5 year old collection? ›
Paying off collections could increase scores from the latest credit scoring models, but if your lender uses an older version, your score might not change. Regardless of whether it will raise your score quickly, paying off collection accounts is usually a good idea.
Do unpaid loans ever go away? ›
Key takeaways
Generally, if you've missed a debt payment or have accounts in collections, it can stay on your credit profile for up to 10 years, depending on your situation.
How long does it take to repair credit after late payments? ›
How long does it take for your credit score to go up?
| Event | Average credit score recovery time |
|---|
| Missed/defaulted payment | 18 months |
| Late mortgage payment (30 to 90 days) | 9 months |
| Closing credit card account | 3 months |
| Maxed credit card account | 3 months |
3 more rowsJul 27, 2023
But, like other negative records, defaults don't stay on your credit forever. Depending on several factors, you may see an increase in your scores when the default is removed.
How many points can a late payment drop your credit score? ›
According to FICO data, a 30-day missed payment can drop a fair credit score anywhere from 17 to 37 points and a very good or excellent credit score to drop 63 to 83 points. But a longer, 90-day missed payment drops the same fair score 27 to 47 points and drops the excellent score as much as 113 to 133 points.
What is a 609 letter to remove late payments? ›
Section 609 gives consumers the right to request information related to debts listed on their credit reports. Examples of information that you may want to dispute include: Accounts opened due to identity theft. Late payments that were paid on time.
