Strategies On How To Remove A Late Payment From Credit Report
Your payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score. That being the case, late payments can seriously pull down your credit score. The longer the time the debt is unpaid, the greater the point deductions on your credit score. There are cases, however, wherein a late payment on your record is inaccurate. Here are some tips on how to remove a late payment item from your credit report.
Write a dispute letter to the credit bureaus. Specify the inaccurate item you are disputing and enclose a copy of your credit report with the disputed item highlighted. Clearly explain why you believe that the late payment report is inaccurate. Enclose copies of all relevant documentation you have concerning the item, including receipts, bills, notices, and even creditors’ rules concerning grace periods. You also need to specify clearly what action you want the credit bureaus to take regarding your disputed item.
The credit bureaus will investigate your disputed late payment within 30 days. If ever they are unable to verify your dispute, they will remove the negative entry from your report.
If you did forget to pay on time and the late payment report is accurate, you might try negotiating with your creditor to withdraw the late payment report in exchange for your signing up on their automatic payment system.
You might also try asking your creditor for a goodwill adjustment to remove the late payment report. If you have a good payment history with your creditor, but just missed out on this particular payment due to an unforeseen event, your creditor might acquiesce to ‘forgive’ your late payment if you request it through a goodwill letter.
A late payment of around a month can lead to a 30 point deduction on your credit score. If you are counting each of your points and those points mean the difference between qualifying for a prime rate loan or not, you might find these tips worthwhile. Generally speaking, if the late payment item is a rare case on your account, your creditors won’t really mind agreeing to your request.
