Credit cards and late payments

[jtvang125]

Considering how many bills I have to look after (rent, utilities, phone, cell, dsl, car, insurance, student loans, and 3 CCs) I do a pretty good job of paying them on time. Of course there will always be those months where you get a little side track and forget 1 or 2.

So, in regards to credit cards, will making a late payment affect my credit rating? Again this isn't a chronic problem or anything and by late I mean just 2-3 days late.

 

[toekramp]

for 2-3 days late, no, probably after 30 days you should be worried.

 

[spherrod]

I wouldn't have thought a late payment (2-3 days) will affect your credit rating

 

[borosp1]

if your consistently late 2-3 days then it affects your credit rating. If you only do it once every 12 months i dont think it has any or a very negligible affect.

 

[spidey07]

yes.

As an aside most people are never late on any bills (taken from fico information). We don't "forget" about one or two because it screws up your credit.

 

[TimMyMac]

Citibank reports after two late statements. depends on who your with. If you still have your contract, look, it will tell you.


Edit: another thing, credit companies don't report standings on credit cards till the end of the month, so If you miss a payment, pay it back current before the end of the month and you won't have any worries.

 

[jaedaliu]

pay them as you get them. If you can't afford to, spend less =D

and yes, it does. Your best chance to prevent it from happening is to call the credit company and explain that you're never late. You were on vacation, mother in the hospital, whatever. but if 1 - 2 bills get paid late every 3 months, you won't be able to do that.

just pay them on time.

 

[FoBoT]

now that i have online bill pay, i pay the minimum as soon as i get the statement.
then after payday, i pay more / all to keep it paid off or at least get it towards being paid off

so i just make 2 payments a month, that way i can't get hit with late fees

 

[Jzero]

I'll tell you what I do - I have a list of all the bills I have to pay and on the 15th of the month, I pay them whether I've gotten a statement or not.

 

[Bryophyte]

One thing that can happen if you pay bills late is that you can have your interest rate bumped up to 24% or more, and even with other lenders than the one you were late with.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
One thing that can happen if you pay bills late is that you can have your interest rate bumped up to 24% or more, and even with other lenders than the one you were late with.

exactamundo

 

[Gibson486]

you can't put a late payment on your credit score unless it is over 30 days late. What a late payment od 2-3 days will do is end your promotional offer or boost up your interest.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
One thing that can happen if you pay bills late is that you can have your interest rate bumped up to 24% or more, and even with other lenders than the one you were late with.

exactamundo

and if you have a promotional APR (balance transfer at 0% for example) they will CANCEL your 0% APR offer and raise it to the regular rate. Even if you are just 1 day late, it's in the super fine tiny print.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
One thing that can happen if you pay bills late is that you can have your interest rate bumped up to 24% or more, and even with other lenders than the one you were late with.

exactamundo

and if you have a promotional APR (balance transfer at 0% for example) they will CANCEL your 0% APR offer and raise it to the regular rate. Even if you are just 1 day late, it's in the super fine tiny print.

What's worse is the fine print says "one day late on any agreement and your rate goes to the default, which is bend-me-over-raw%"

Something in the neighborhood of 26-30%.

Moral of the story to OP. Never, ever be late on any bills.

 

[Spike]

Alot of regular bills are "ok" to be a little late on in terms of your credit report. What usually happens (though this is not always the case) is the company in question sends you a late notice with some extra fee attached for being late. If you get that in right away no one outside of the company knows and it never appears on your credit (that is if it is not frequent).

I have no idea about cc bills as I ALWAYS pay whatever I spent that month fully off. This just applies to all the normal bills I have. I was worried about this one and actually called a few of the companies whos services I use and they confirmed what I thought.

-spike