late payments quandry

[ElorraM]

It seems to me late payments are the hardest to get removed. The original creditors just say their records are correct and that's it. Is the only thing to hope for in this situation is to get them on FCRA violations when they don't respond to you after you state you dont believe you were late?

Any advice on how to handle late pays?

(and Ive done the goodwill thing. I have yet have one company remove them. They usually say it is accuarate and not their policy to remove accurate info. Bleh)

[Fade to Black]

I agree with everything you said....

[morrow]

You can try the GW thing again ya know. Took me about half a dozen times, but Sears eventually removed all my lates.

Just dont give up.

[Methuss]

Well the first question is if the lates are really true or not. If you mail a payment and it doesn't post for two weeks, you can be sure it was not a mail delay that did that. Nearly every court jurisdiction has ruled that a mail delay is measured at not more than four days. And their own internal procedural problems can't be used to your detriment.

Additionally, some companies seem to think that 27 days late equals the ability to put a 30 day late on your credit report...WRONG. 30 days is 30 days, not 27!

So, if you have evidence of some kind, even if circumstancial, that the lates are not correct, and the furnisher of the information has verified it as correct, then you can hit them up for FCRA violations. You must first dispute with the CRAs and see if it gets verified, then go from there.

[breathing_easier]

Additionally, some companies seem to think that 27 days late equals the ability to put a 30 day late on your credit report...WRONG. 30 days is 30 days, not 27!

I can testify to this. One of my current, longstanding accounts was reporting as "Pays As Agreed, Was 30 Days Late." Even though the alleged late was from more than two years ago and probably wasn't doing that much damage to my scores, I really had no recollection of ever having been 30 days late with this OC and so disputed with CRAs. Came back verified. I contacted OC (still have an account with them to this day) who told me that well, actually we could have reported many more lates on your account as you have been 30 days late at least six times in the past eight years. What?! They then send me a list of the statements on which they said I had been 30 days late. Turns out my payments had posted anywhere from 1 - 15 days after the statement due date. Not one 30-day late in the bunch. When I asked them about this, this was the honest-to-goodness answer, "Well, one day past the due date is the same as 30 days late." After reviewing my agreement with them, and not finding any such language, I calmly and politely explained to them that the FTC would beg to differ. Never did get that TL updated, but that OC, under their new billing system, is no longer reporting positive TLs, only severely negative TLs (collections) so it's gone from my reports altogether. I still wonder how they were able to avoid a class action on that issue.

[ElorraM]

Let me be sure I understand this.

Say your due date is June 30. Your payment can get their 30 days or less after June 30 and still not be late correct?

[breathing_easier]

Let me be sure I understand this.

Say your due date is June 30. Your payment can get their 30 days or less after June 30 and still not be late correct?

It is still late and late fees can be assessed, but if the payment posts before 30 days(not just if you mail payment before the 30 days after the due date ) it cannot be reported as 30 days late.

[morrow]

Keep in mind that every creditor is different and some may not have that policy...I remember one case (for the life of me cant remeber where) in which a consumer was one day late and they tagged him/her with a 30 day late....just depends on how big of an PITA they wanna be.

Most are decent though.

[breathing_easier]

Keep in mind that every creditor is different and some may not have that policy...I remember one case (for the life of me cant remeber where) in which a consumer was one day late and they tagged him/her with a 30 day late....just depends on how big of an PITA they wanna be.

Most are decent though.

Right, as I mentioned in my previous post, I had an OC who said they considered one day late the same as 30. However, 30 days late is supposed to mean 30 days late, and the FTC would have problems with an OC who was reporting anything less than 30 days late as 30 days late. I had drafted a letter to the FTC about this issue when my OC changed their billing policy to only report collection accounts to the CRAs. My tradeline with them disappeared across all three CRAs as it was considered a "positive" TL with only a 30-day late reporting. I didn't send the letter to the FTC, but I did advise the OC that their 30-day late policy could get them into hot water with the FTC.

[breathing_easier]

Keep in mind that every creditor is different and some may not have that policy...I remember one case (for the life of me cant remeber where) in which a consumer was one day late and they tagged him/her with a 30 day late....just depends on how big of an PITA they wanna be.

Most are decent though.

Right, as I mentioned in my previous post, I had an OC who said they considered one day late the same as 30. However, 30 days late is supposed to mean 30 days late, and the FTC would have problems with an OC who was reporting anything less than 30 days late as 30 days late, especially since my contract with the OC made no mention of such a policy. I had drafted a letter to the FTC about this issue when my OC changed their billing policy to only report collection accounts to the CRAs. My tradeline with them disappeared across all three CRAs as it was considered a "positive" TL with only a 30-day late reporting. I didn't send the letter to the FTC, but I did advise the OC that their 30-day late policy could get them into hot water with the FTC.

I remember in the days before FICO scoring (back when there was TRW instead of Experian) that there was a derogatory notation available for "slow pay." This was for consumers who did regularly pay their bill, but routinely paid past the due date. Since this notation is no longer available to OCs, perhaps some still try to get their negative remark in by categorizing any late payment as a 30-day late.

[retmar]

As to Methuss' response, I file a complaint with the USPS each time this has happened so as to protect myself. For some reason, if I placed mail in my box for the Carrier to pick up, the payments would be later than if I mailed them, as a whole, from the PO itself. On one occasion, payments for a particular company was more than 30 days past the time I mailed it. Another time, I mailed a letter to my Brother in Ohio, then 3 days later, sent another one. The second one was received in 3 days while the first took 24 days. Both were sent the same way. Today, the DW and I know about how long it usually takes for a check to process at our Bank, as we monitor the dates of processing noted on our statements, so we check our account each day to monitor what is and isn't in. Luckily, only 5 checks are ones that are reported. We also make sure we know the dates they are considered late, so, if a problem does arise, we can get it there in time.

As to Morrow's response, I totally agree. Do not give up. Contact the company and get the name of the biggest boss, then send the letter restricted to that person. Include that you are aware there was a problem, learned your lesson, and that it will never happen again, plus, you have hopes of purchasing a home in the near future, so would they be so kind as to delete the lates so you will be eligible for the lowest rates. Some times this will work. Or, you could wait until CHOD and dispute with the CRA's, but, then you face the possibility of it being reinserted the next month.

As to the other information supplied, this is very true and gives you an overall view of what you need to realize regarding lates.

[Ahntara]

Any creditor that reports a consumer as 30-59 days past due when in fact they are one day past due is committing a violation of the law.

There may be a misunderstanding of words. A creditor can report the consumer as "past due" if the payment was supposed to be posted before the 15th of the month and did not post until the 16th. That account would be past due at that point. But the status of the account (R1, I1, O1 or M1) should not change to (R2, I2, O2 or M2) until the consumer is at least 30 and not more than 59 days past the due date. Nor should there be any number for that date in the 30/60/90 day counters shown on most credit reports.

Credit grantors typically do not report past due accounts in this manner, because an amount shown in the "past due" column of a credit report is a derogatory and triggers score deductions, among other things. But, legally, it can be shown like this, as long as they don't venture into 30 days (or more) territory when the consumer hasn't actually been late 30 days...