If you only take a single credit maxim to heart, it should be to always pay your bills on time.
A single late payment can drop an excellent credit score (750 and above) by over 100 points. It will stay on your credit report for the next seven years, and it can make it difficult for you to get loans or secure an affordable interest rate.
But what happens if you make a single honest mistake, or you have an emergency that affects your ability to pay? Depending on your relationship with the creditor, you may be able to get the late payment removed from your credit report. It isn't always possible, but it's worth a try, especially if you've always paid on time in the past. Here are a few things you can do to improve your odds of getting the late payment wiped from your credit report.
First steps
If you know you've missed a payment, your first step should be to check your credit reports to see if your creditor reported it. It won't appear unless it's at least 30 days past due, and some accounts may not report it unless it's at least 60 days past due. If you've always paid your bill on time in the past, your creditor may give you the benefit of the doubt and not report the missed payment at all.
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If you notice any late payments on your report for accounts you don't recognize, then you may be the victim of identity theft. Place a fraud alert on your credit report and contact the credit bureau and the financial institution immediately. It may take a couple of weeks to sort out, but the credit bureaus are legally required to fix any errors on your credit report, so you shouldn't have too much trouble getting these late payments removed.
Request a goodwill adjustment
If you've been a loyal customer for many years and this is your first late payment, your creditor may be willing to forgive your mistake and remove the late payment from your credit report. This is called a goodwill adjustment. You can contact the creditor by phone to request one, but you may have better luck by writing out a formal letter.
This letter gives you the opportunity to explain why your payment was late. If you have any proof that backs up your claims -- a copy of a medical bill for an unexpected expense, for example -- it's a good idea to include this as well. The more proof you have that your missed payment was truly a one-time occurrence, the more likely your creditor is to remove it. Send the letter via certified mail so that you'll know when the letter is delivered.
Whether you're requesting a goodwill adjustment by phone or by mail, it's important to be polite. Remember, your creditor doesn't have to remove the late payment from your record if it's accurate, and they're less likely to do so if you come across as angry and combative.
Negotiate
If your creditor refuses to offer you a goodwill adjustment based on your previous payment history alone, you may have to offer the company something in return. If the debt is still outstanding, you can agree to pay the full balance off at once. Or you could try offering to sign up for auto-pay to ensure you don't miss any payments in the future. Make sure you get a copy of any agreement you've made with the lender in writing so you can refer back to it later.
If you've tried all of this and your creditor still won't budge, you may just have to accept that the late payment is going to stay on your report. All you can do from there is make sure all your successive payments are on time and do what you can to improve your credit score, including using less than 30% of your available credit and maintaining a good mix of credit accounts.
Over time, that late payment will affect your score less and less as your more recent payment history takes precedence, and after seven years, it will be as if it never happened.
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FAQs
Late payments can't be removed from a credit report unless they were reported in error. So if a late payment is correctly reported, no one can remove it from a credit report. What is a goodwill letter? A goodwill letter is a note to a creditor asking to remove a negative item from credit reports.
Do goodwill letters work for late payments? ›
Goodwill letters can be an effective tool to tackle late payments on your credit report. It's all about understanding what these letters are for, crafting them carefully and keeping your expectations realistic. If you missed a payment, take a look at your situation to figure out if a goodwill letter is the right move.
How to ask for late payment forgiveness? ›
The process is easy: simply write a letter to your creditor explaining why you paid late. Ask them to forgive the late payment and assure them it won't happen again. If they do agree to forgive the late payment, your creditor should adjust your credit report accordingly.
What is a 609 letter to remove late payments? ›
Section 609 gives consumers the right to request information related to debts listed on their credit reports. Examples of information that you may want to dispute include: Accounts opened due to identity theft. Late payments that were paid on time.
How do I ask my credit card company to remove a late payment? ›
Missed a Payment? Try Writing a Goodwill Letter to Remove It From Credit Reports. A goodwill letter explains why you had a late payment and asks the creditor to take it off your credit reports. NerdWallet writers and editors are experts in their field and come from a range of backgrounds in journalism and finance.
How long does it take to repair credit after late payments? ›
How long does it take for your credit score to go up?
| Event | Average credit score recovery time |
|---|
| Bankruptcy | 6+ years |
| Home foreclosure | 3 years |
| Missed/defaulted payment | 18 months |
| Late mortgage payment (30 to 90 days) | 9 months |
3 more rowsJul 27, 2023
Your letter should clearly request the removal of the late payment from your credit report. Explain the positive impact that this action will have on your credit score and future financial well-being. It helps to urge them by noting how much you rely on your credit score being as high as possible.
Will Discover forgive a late payment? ›
Discover isn't obligated to forgive any late fees beyond the initial one. But that doesn't mean you can't try to get a second fee waived, especially if it's been years since your first. You can call Discover customer service at 1 (800) 347-2683 and politely ask a representative about waiving the fee.
Is pay to delete legal? ›
Technically, pay for delete isn't expressly prohibited by the FCRA, but it shouldn't be viewed as a blanket get-out-of-bad-credit-jail-free card. "The only items you can force off of your credit report are those that are inaccurate and incomplete," says McClelland.
How do I apologize for late payment of debt? ›
I am sincerely sorry for the delay in payment on {loan type}. I apologize for any inconvenience or frustration this caused you. The delay was caused by {reason}. While I take full responsibility for my mistake, I would like to assure you that this was a one-time error on my part.
In general, most debt will fall off of your credit report after seven years, but some types of debt can stay for up to 10 years or even indefinitely. Certain types of debt or derogatory marks, such as tax liens and paid medical debt collections, will not typically show up on your credit report.
Can a creditor forgive a late payment? ›
Not all late payments will be forgiven, but it's always worth asking. Lenders are most willing to waive late payments for customers who have never missed a payment before, rather than for repeat offenders. Likewise, a lender may be more willing to waive a late fee if the borrower has been a customer for a long time.
How do you convince a creditor to remove late payments? ›
Here are two of your most viable options to remove late payments from your credit report:
- Call Your Credit Card Issuer and Ask Them to Take the Late Payments Off Your Credit Report. ...
- Write a Goodwill Letter to the Creditor Explaining Why You Haven't Made Timely Payments.
If you act quickly by paying within 30 days of the original due date, a late payment will generally not be recorded on your credit reports. After 30 days, you can only remove falsely reported late payments.
What is a 623 dispute letter? ›
The letter requests an investigation into the disputed information under Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), aiming to correct errors and ensure the accuracy of the credit report. This process allows individuals to address and rectify any inaccuracies that may impact their creditworthiness.
Will removing late payments increase credit score? ›
The removal of a default can improve your scores, but if you want a strong credit file over the long haul, you'll need to add positive information too.
Can you get delinquencies off credit report? ›
A delinquency will fall off your credit report seven years after the date your account first fell into delinquency, also known as the original delinquency date. Even before that seven-year mark, as a delinquency ages on your credit report, its effect on your credit score will fade.
How to get credit one to remove late payments from credit report? ›
If you believe a creditor reported a late payment inaccurately, you may dispute it. Disputing an error is easy and takes just a few simple steps. You can dispute the error with the credit bureau or bureaus in which the error appears, the creditor that reported the inaccurate information, or both.
