Does a late payment affect my credit score?

Your credit score can drop by as much as 100+ points if one late payment appears on your credit report, but the impact will vary depending on the scoring model and your overall financial profile. Note, a payment is usually reported to the credit bureaus as being late when it is at least 30 days past due. In that case, you’ll have missed two due dates.

You can use WalletHub’s free credit score simulator to determine the potential impact of a late payment on your credit score.

How Late Payments Impact Your Credit

• Each missed payment is its own negative entry on your credit report.
• Payments generally aren’t reported to credit bureaus until they are at least 30 days past due.
• If you have good to excellent credit, a late payment will have a greater impact on your score than if your credit history is already poor.
• The further past due a payment becomes, the more it hurts your credit score.
• After a payment becomes 90 to 120 days past due, a lender may send your account to collections.
• Collection agencies can pursue legal action against you and seek a court judgement.
• Late payments remain on your credit report for up to 7 years.
• The impact of late payments on your credit score lessens over time.

How to Dispute Inaccurate Late Payments

If a late payment is mistakenly on your credit report, you can file a dispute with the credit bureaus to remove it. You cannot remove accurate entries from your report, but negative information will fall off after 7 years.

You can see what’s on your credit report, keep track of your credit score, and get personalized credit-improvement tips for free here at WalletHub.