Late Payment Credit Repair in Dallas-Fort Worth
In efforts to protect your credit score, no single factor is more important than on-time payments. Late payments are game-changers to money lenders and credit bureaus. If you have otherwise spotless credit and a good score, a late payment can knock as much as 100 points off your credit score.
That amount is enough to prevent you from getting the necessary financing to buy a home, car, or major appliance. Even worse, a late payment can remain on your credit report for up to 7 years. This is why it must be resolved ASAP.
Our credit repair professionals at Trinity Credit Services can eliminate late payments from your credit history in efforts to help you buy what you need when you need it. We service customers throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and handle much more than late payments. We also help customers repair their credit in the wake of bankruptcies, repossessions, foreclosures, tax liens, charge-offs, and much more. We can help you, too.
Overcoming Late Payments with Trinity Credit Services in DFW
By federal law, it takes at least 30 days before a late payment is considered past due by the credit reporting bureaus. So an overlooked monthly bill will not hurt your credit status unless you let it linger. To find out if you have a late payment on your record, you can check all three reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. If a late payment is posted in error, you can ask the credit bureau or the company to remove it.
For valid late-payment notices, there is a big difference between being 30, 60, or 90 days behind. Credit bureaus dock your score with increasing severity, so the sooner you can catch up, the less damage to your credit score and the quicker you can start the recovery period. While making partial payments below the minimum requirement will NOT prevent you from being reported as a late payer of having your bill sent to collections, some steps YOU CAN TAKE to rebuild your credit score and avoid future late payments include:
- Select payment due dates that are either at the same time, if that works for you, or staggered throughout the month to work best with your cash-flow situation. Many credit card issuers allow you to select your due date.
- Set up text alerts that remind you about bills coming due in a few days. If you need more than one alert, set up multiple electronic nudges.
- Set up automatic payments on the same day each month to cover recurring bills for the same amount like mortgage payments, car payments, and insurance payments. This may not work for utility bills, which can vary wildly, but it will help you stay current with fixed expenses.