How To Get A Late Payment Off Your Credit Report?

Getting a late payment removed from credit reports: steps to follow

The effect of late payment on your credit score is to reduce it because you are seen as a high-risk client. This is a very important point because one or even several recent late payments can cost you 110 points and make your credit score significantly worse. The good news is that late pay may be wiped off your credit report if you approach the creditor with goodwill and get them to adjust your account or validate your request. Below are the guidelines that any firm ought to follow to clean that bad payment record.

When you are in a position where you cannot repay the debt, you can ask the creditor for a Goodwill Adjustment.

You can request a goodwill adjustment if the creditor can verify that you have always been on time to pay your debts and the delay was a one-off occasion due to certain circumstances. In short, it is a formal letter to the credit reference agency requesting the removal of the mark because you are a loyal customer of the creditor who reported you.

When dealing with outstanding balances, be sure to stress that even though there may be some balance that has not been paid, it has been the practice to pay for bills from this creditor on time and that the failure to pay the particular amount was as a result of a one-off incidence. When writing a letter to the bank, one can write, I accept responsibility for the fact that the payment was made later than planned, but these circumstances were exceptional and not characteristic of me. Some of the reasons that would warrant the lateness could be health complications, loss of a job, a bereavement or an accident that would have happened to the user, or even possibly forgetting to change the billing information as a result of a change of residence.

The way to go about it is to prove that this was an exception and kindly request the creditor to remove the notation showing that you were late in paying your dues in your credit report. If you have some documents that would support the reasons that have caused you to delay in the payment, please enclose them. Finally, it is recommended to thank you for your cooperation and assure you that you are still and will be a customer of this company.

If the creditor accepts to make a goodwill adjustment, they will also inquire with the credit reference agencies to delete the negative notation on your credit reports. This should ideally take about 30 days to accomplish; however, this period may vary depending on the nature and complexity of the information required.

Challenge the Late Payment under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

If you are not able to persuade the creditor to delete the late pay, then the next action is to report the matter to the credit reporting agency under the FCRA. This entails writing letters to all three credit bureaus namely Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Your dispute letter would note the date when you first learned about this, explaining that the information you have about the late payment is incorrect or incomplete. Explain this as a one-time incident and not a regular occurrence, thus contradicting your previous records with the specific creditor of being a timely payer.

Demand based on FCRA that the credit bureau should, investigate the item, get in touch with your creditor, ensure the status of this payment, and make necessary changes in your report. Original papers, invoices, receipts, or any other documents that can support your accusations, your personal phone number or e-mail address.

When the credit bureau receives your dispute letter, they must investigate to try and contact your creditor to determine the validity of the late payment notation within 30 days from the date you sent the dispute letter. Even if you notify the creditor of the unauthorized late payment, they should not report the negative item to the credit bureau if they do not confirm it within the prescribed time frame.

Even if it will substantiate the claim of the credit bureau that the payment was indeed made after the due date, you still have the right to have the item removed under the FCRA if the information is unverified. Finally, it is up to the creditor to prove that a payment was delinquent if you argue concerning the status of a payment.

Sending dispute letters is one of the recommended procedures that will lead to investigation and reporting that will help in the removal of late payments in credit history.

When you have a good line of communication with your creditor, it is advisable to negotiate with the creditor directly.

Another option that may be considered is that you attempt to talk to your creditor in an attempt to convince him or her to release you from the obligations that you have been contracted to meet. The next course of action is to contact the billing department or the customer service personnel responsible for your account and inform them that this particular delayed payment is hurting your credit and capacity to secure affordable credit. In your cover letter, assure the company that you have been a loyal customer for the past X years, and that you have always made timely payments except for this time.

If there are any legal documents supporting the cause of the delay in payment, then it is helpful to attach them while accepting blame for the payment delay but stating that this is not usual behavior from you. Then, nicely ask them what they need to erase the information about the late payment from your credit reports that the three main credit reference agencies report. Perhaps there is an option of appeal or a different approach possible.

If the bank has other managed accounts with this organization or informs them that you will be taking your business elsewhere this can make them provide an exception to the late fee policy. Be insistent and pass the request to the supervising authority in case no one is ready to cooperate with you to make this happen.

The following are some of the measures that individuals can adopt to avoid the future occurrence of late payments:

Besides, making repayments for the specific account that has a current 90 or 120 days late payment, it is just as relevant to prevent future late payments that may stack and overwhelm your credit score.

Here are some tips to stay on track with bills:

• Arrange to automatically deduct the amounts to be paid on fixed expenses such as car loans, student loans, and house bonds. This ensures that payments are received on time every month thus meeting its financial obligation to the suppliers.
• For utility bills that have flexible due dates that need manual payment, use payment reminders and calendar notifications.
• Analyze the account statements regularly to notice discrepancies or fraudulent transactions as soon as possible.
• Always keep savings and an emergency fund of the monthly earnings for at least six months, so that you can still afford to pay the credit even if you lose your job temporarily or you are laid off.
• Inform all your creditors of your change of address and bills every time you change your residential status. Enter other contacts who may be able to contact you when you are overseas for a long time.
• Why not opt for credit monitoring or alerts on any activity on your accounts, that way you get notified anytime there’s a change on your credit files and can resolve any error that might have occurred immediately.

As much as no one looks forward to the challenge of having to deal with correcting credit report errors, taking the early steps to use goodwill letters and following the proper steps of filing disputes and appeals can assist in the removal of an incorrect late payment. From this point on be cautious with late payment due dates and use measures that would prevent more charges that worsen credit status. Check your credit regularly to ensure there are no discrepancies and report these discrepancies as soon as possible. If you continue to be consistent and more aggressive in handling the accounts, you can be able to fix the dings and ensure that the credit score remains clean in the long run.

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