3 Ways to Get a Late Payment Removed From Your Credit Report
Well, I messed up last month and accidentally forgot to pay one of my credit cards. It was reported on my credit and I saw a 30 point drop! Yes, late payments can be a very big deal, and they weigh significantly in your overall credit score calculation.
Although this has happened to me before, it was several years ago (before I really paid much attention to my credit score, or even knew I could get it removed). I am sure many of my readers have made the same mistake, so I’d like to show you 3 ways to get a late payment removed from your credit report. Just in case you’re wondering, I was able to get this late payment entry removed from my credit report by mailing the original creditor this goodwill letter.
In my experience, as long as you don’t have several late payments on the same account, it’s really not that difficult to get them removed. Here are three methods you can use to get them removed.
1. Request a Goodwill Adjustment from the original creditor to remove the late payment
The idea is simple and it works incredible well. Many times creditors are happy to grant “goodwill adjustments” if your previous payment history is relatively good and you have established a good relationship with the creditor. This is probably the easiest and surest way to get a late payment removed from your credit report. I wrote a whole article describing how to remove a late payment by asking. You can also use this free sample goodwill letter I created
2. Negotiate removal by offering to sign up for automatic payments.
I have never actually tried this method myself, but from what I understand creditors frequently offer to remove late payment entries if you, in exchange, agree to sign up for automatic payments. I really like this idea because it works out well for both parties: the creditor can ensure future payments will be made on time, and you don’t have to ever worry about missing another payment. I would love to hear from those of you who have succeeded with this method!
3. Dispute the late payment as inaccurate
While I certainly do not advocate fraud (that is, claiming an entry is inaccurate when you know it’s not), if you find ANY inaccuracies on the late payment entry (dates, amounts, etc), you can dispute the late payment as inaccurate.
Sometimes creditors have a difficult time verifying the exact details of your account history. Therefore, if you dispute the late payment and they are unable (or simply don’t bother) to verify it, the negative entry will be removed.
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11 Responses to “3 Ways to Get a Late Payment Removed From Your Credit Report”
By Peter Quinn on Sep 11, 2008 | Reply
Hi. I am a long time reader. I wanted to say that I like your blog and the layout.
Peter Quinn
By Ryan on Sep 11, 2008 | Reply
Thank you
By Anthony on Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
My only concern with #3 is that if you know you were late on a payment, but you are disputing that it was not, that is considered fraud. In most cases, they do not pursue this because they can’t prove it, but they very often dismiss those cases as frivolous, especially if you dispute the same entry multiple times.
By Brandon Mendelson on Nov 8, 2008 | Reply
I found item #3 to be particularly useful. I’m not so sure on the Goodwill adjustments, especially now, but it’s certainly worth a shot. Good post.
By Caleb Nelson on Nov 10, 2008 | Reply
This article is very useful. For some reason, I’ve always taken the approach, that once something hits your credit report, it is written in stone. I’m doing some credit score remodeling this January, as I really attack my record and score for the long run, and I think that these are some really good ways to get started in boosting your score. Thanks for the advice.
Caleb
http://www.mefinanciallyfree.blogspot.com
By Joshua Raines on Nov 18, 2008 | Reply
I would say Number 3 Works more often than most. In 2004 I was 18 with a credit card. I got into some trouble and stopped paying it. I recently went and disputed them and they didnt have enough information in my current file to verify that I had opened it.
By Jennifer on Jun 9, 2009 | Reply
Good post! Probably it can work out in removing late payments from my credit report. Thanks for the information.
By gordon on Jan 31, 2010 | Reply
i recently disputed a capitol one report and asked them to prove it was my account the began adding more money onto the balance owed within days But have still not sent proof if it is my account like a contract or anything
What can i do in this case does the bureau have to remove it or what
By nikki c. on Mar 5, 2010 | Reply
Hopefully you sent your dispute via registered mail with return receipt. If you disputed with the original creditor yourself via the mailing method above they by fcra law have thirty days to comply to send verification you asked for. If its been past thirty days send a letter to credit bureaus with copy of what you sent the O.C. and dispute through them. If O.C. verifys through that and its still not corrected. Send OC a follow up letter asking for verification again. If they do not send it send another letter threatening to sue for damages. That should take care of it.