When are late payments reported?

The term 30 days is literal. On the 31st you are 30 days late. In February you are not late until March 2nd (except leap year).

sorry, I meant 28 days in Feb, not 30
Heather

Dear Tom,
I am currently arguing with Khol’s credit center. They have reported me 30 days late for a payment I made on March 11, 2007. The original payment was due on February 10, 2007, making me 29 days late. They are telling me that they caculate by billing cycles, not actual days. I can see from your responses above that this is not the way it is done. Is there a credit reporting law that I can cite to them, so that they will remove this 30 day late?

Tom:
My payment to Chase was due on June 11, I made the payment on June 10 (online) but realized on June 13 that Chase had not deducted the money from my checking account. I then resubmitted the payment and called to let them know that it was a computer glitch that may have affected my payment. They still charged me $39 late fee. Are they right for doing this, even though the account is closed and I’m just paying off the debt? Can they report it as late? I wrote down the name of the employee I spoke to. I have never been late on any account for 7 years now.

Do you know what method Citi financial uses to calculate 30-day late payments? They are reporting my Union 76 account as having several 30-day lates even though I’ve never been more than 7 days late. I’m trying to gather information to dispute the reporting. Thanks.

The payment of my home equity line was due on August 20, I made a payment today Sep 19 on the day no. 30, can the bank (Suntrust) report me late 30 days to the Bureaus? Thank you!

Tom,
In reading your response:
“The term 30 days is literal. On the 31st you are 30 days late. In February you are not late until March 2nd (except leap year).”

Assuming 28 days in February, March 2nd would be the 30th day from Febraury 1st. If a payment is processed on March 2nd, should it be considered late? March 3rd would be the 31st day. Thanks!

IF DUE DATE IS 12TH AND ACCOUNT GIVES 14 DAYS IS IT LEGAL TO PUT A CHARGE ON THE ACCOUNT ON THE 21ST
5 DAYS BEFORE

hi, if my mortgage payment is due the 1st, how long do i have before its gets reported late, even though they charge a late fee after the 16th. don’t want to hurt my credit if i pay within the 30 days will i thank you

If my payments are for example Jan = paid feb late 30 days March paid how would it be possible that feb is reported late 30 days. Seams to me that if the payment was not made on the 1st they still report it as 30 days late. So am I to understand that a payment is late 30 day canlender from that date the pament is made. That the late payments they reported as 30 day are not actually 30 days late.

We have a situation where the lender accidentally credited our account in the same month that we made a double payment. We thought we were ahead but weren’t, even though they sent us statements with zero owing. Now they want payment in full, which is understandable. They notified us on Jan 17. I contend that we have 30 days from that date until the report, as it was an error on their part. They are marking the 30 days from the Jan payment that was due on the 1st. How do you see it? And are there any legalities here? They told us it was law that they report after 30 days.

Question: If my mortgage was due FEB 1st, and I don’t pay it until FEB 22, assuming I get charged the 1% late fee that is stated in my closing documents (Payments after 15th), will this affect my credit, or my relationship with my mortgage company?

I check my credit report on a regular basis, usually every other month and I have never had a late payment until recently. The late payment was for 8-9 mths ago, reported as 30 days late. This never showed up on previous credit reports until recently. Is this legal? I’m disputing it because I was never late but can creditors report late payments after several months?

Bodyboarding,

If you have proof that it was paid and cleared your bank on the 30th then it can be removed. Sometimes the banks take 2 - 5 days to process internet and phone payments in which case you need a confirmation number validating the date you paid it. In this case they should remove it also.

Linda,

This completely depends on the contract you established with them. No mention of late fees in the contract usually means no late fees entitled.

My Lowe’s payment was due 05/05. My June payment was due on 06/05. I sent my payment for June and May on 06/13. They are telling me I am 60 days past due??? Is that correct? Doesn’t it make me 37 days past due not 60? I have never, ever had a late payment in my 14 years of credit history so this is all new to me.

Does a one time late payment, not 30 days, automatically cause our interest rate to change? My husband mentioned something about not being late bc it will cause our mortgage to accelerate or something like that?

“If you have made late payments but not 30 days or more late it will not show as late on your credit report.”

Not to dispute your knowledge, is their a Government site that lists all the rules / allowances for this? I am working on a project at OSU and need the Government’s word on this matter if available. Thank You

I HAVE A GOOD CREDIT SCORE 719. RECENTLY I PAID A LARGE AMOUNT ON A CREDIT CARD TO PAY IT OFF,ONLY TO FIND OUT I OWED 40.00 MORE. THINKING I HAD PAID OFF THIS AMOUNT I FOUND OUT THAT I WAS 30 DAYS LATE ON THIS CREDITCARD . I WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE A NEW HOME SHOULD I EVEN TRY NOW?

V Bonds,

Your score is an indication that you have been timely in your payments and that there is no negative payment history with this creditor prior to this event. I would contact the issuing bank and request to speak with a manager. They do have the power to remove the 30 day late from your report. It may take calling 6 times till you find the sympathetic ear but it will be well worth it to protect your credit rating. Otherwise, you will have to wait 6+ months for this to rebound.

No. The credit report will not show lates less than 30 days old. They will show the lates in their own records but not on the credit report.

Carl,

Unfortunately, they are correct. The 30 day period is literal. Your best course of action is to contact customer service and ask to speak with a manager in hopes of finding a sympathetic ear. You may need to do this 6 times before you get the right person who is willing to help.

Greg,

Unfortunately each credit card company can vary on when and how they assess late fees and interest. It is in the fine print of the agreement we sign when we accept the card. Yes, they do charge fees that at time are not accurate but when you call them on it they will correct it.

As for interest on paid off balances, this could be due to when the card was paid off. If it was after the end of the billing period there would be a pro-rated portion of interest due.

Scott, No this is not allowed. I am guessing that whoever you spoke with at the bank is just giving their opinion. Most bank employees are not trained in consumer and mortgage credit. They are usually not aware of actual reporting policies. What you need to do is sit down with the branch manager and show him the evidence. They should be able to take care of this internally. If they don’t, you will have to submit the evidence to the bureaus directly. If you need help with the refinance contact me at (949) 290-1795. Rates are low now so this is a good time to make that move.

This is something I would dispute with the bureaus and any good loan officer would know how to do it. The credit report does not show lates under 30 days and if they are reporting it as 30 days late it is inaccurate.

The best course of action is to make repeated calls to customer service of the mortgage company. Their customer service reps have no knowledge of what is legal or how to accurately assess a credit profile. You need to ask for a manager and explain what has happened. The credit report should not show any lates if the payments were made prior to the next 1st. They should be willing to remove it. Keep calling until you get someone willing to help you.

If all else fails, send a letter of dispute with proof of when the payments were made to each of the credit bureaus.

Rebecca,

The best way to get it handled is to make repeated calls to Ford’s finance dept and ask to speak with a manager. The customer service reps have no ability or understanding of what is allowed. You have genuine proof that it was not 30 days late and need to continue calling until a manager is willing to make the change.

Technically it is not 30 days late. However, most systems will report it as late because you past the next payment due date without making a payment. You can fight it but it won’t be easy. You are playing with fire waiting until the last day to make the payment.

Okay, so my phone company, rogers, bills on every 27th of the month(which of course, isn’t exactly every 30 days.)
I’ve never missed or been late on a payment before, and today I just realized my payment never went through for last month. The “invoice date” was August 27th, the “required payment date” was Sept 23, and I realized and paid today, (a sunday), Sept 27th.
Their fine print (which I just looked up) says

“2. Charges to your account are due and payable in full from the date of your invoice or statement. If you are paying by mail or through a financial institution, please allow adequate time for your payment to reach us prior to the Required Payment Date.
3. If payment of an amount due on your account is not received by us by the Required Payment Date specified by us, it will be considered a delinquent amount and will be subject to a late payment charge of 2% per month, calculated and compounded monthly on the delinquent amount (26.82% per year) from the date of the first invoice on which the delinquent amount appears until the date we receive such amount in full. You agree that we can charge any unpaid and outstanding amount, including any late payment charges, on your account to your credit card, bank account or any other payment method pre-authorized by you for payment of our charges.”

Does that mean I’m over 30 days late now, since they count from the invoice date, even though I was only 4 days past the payment due date?
If so, how badly will that affect my credit rating? I’ve never been late paying anything before, but I know rogers reports to credit agencies like a utility.

Tom,

I have a small business loan w/ my mortgage equity as collateral. I understand 30 days late is 30 days late literally. But, do banks generally report 30 days late after 30 days or on 30 days? For example, if I’ve not made the payment due September 2, and make it October 2….that is 30 days right?

Thanks!

I am pretty sure that you’ve addressed this already, but I’m a little confused (probably based on my fears). My credit card payment was due on 10/15 and because of stress this week, I completely forgot to pay the bill until today (10/17). I paid online as I always do. Given the state of today’s economy and credit card issuers push to increase interest rates before new regulations go into effect in 2010, I am pretty sure that they will increase my interest rate and charge a late fee. However, given that I’ve paid two days past the due date, do you think that I will be reported to the credit bureaus? I have a very high credit score, and I’ve never been late before. I’m afraid that this one blunder may have damned me.

Hi Tom, my situation is somewhat similar to Sascha’s. My payment was due on Oct 13. Due to stress, I had completely forgotten about the deadline until Oct 15 and I then paid the bill that day. However, when I got my statement on Oct 18, I was charged $120 of interest for the late payment. Is there any way that I can argue with them about this? Thank you so much.

Hi, Tom-
I have an auto loan from American Honda Finance and it showed me as 30 days late twice in four years. I only knew of one due to paying after the cut off via computer. So I disputed the other. Now they have put FOUR on me, so I go to the computer to check and it appears that when my payment has processed on Day 30 they are counting that as 30 days late. I see that as 29 days late. Do I have any leg to stand on?

Stephanie,

You may be confusing due date with statement date. The date the payment is due usually includes some time that is a part of the 30 days. I would contact customer service and ask for a manager to see if you can get that straightened out. You may need to do this 6 times before you get the right person willing to help you.

I have a auto payment due on the 26th of each month, but since payday is falling on the opposite weeks of when it is due, the payments are late…being reported as 30 days late, but they are between 8 and 10 days late…is this legal? They ‘report to the credit bureau once a month’.

Theresa,

Many lenders have a statement date and a due date yet these are not the same. The statement date is the date the bill was issued. It is technically due then. They provide a grace period of 10 days - 3 weeks and call this the DUE date. If you pay this 10 days late you lapse over into the new statement period and this forces the 30 day late. Always go by the statement date.

Brian, As long as the payment did not lapse into the next statement period you should be fine.