How to Land on Your Feet After One Late Payment

This seems to happen every year.  You start out the summer with big plans for being productive and frugal, but then a major expense comes out of nowhere and leaves you wondering how you will ever be able to make ends meet until the end of August, when there are five days per week when you do not have to pay to send your kids to school while you work.  For example, perhaps your Memorial Day weekend was a road trip to a modestly priced Airbnb, where you brought all your pantry staples from home and bought all your fresh meat and produce from the local Food Lion, but as soon as you got home, you found out that there was no time to lose in replacing all four of the tires on your car.  Even if your car made it through the road trip safely, you might have gotten home to find a bill from your doctor’s office, telling you that none of the blood tests at your most recent doctor’s appointment were covered by insurance, and now you are on the hook for hundreds of dollars, and your budget does not have anywhere near that much wiggle room.  In all the excitement, you are late making the minimum payment on one of your bills, such as your credit card.  Whether things get better or worse from here depends on many factors, but you can mitigate the damage if you contact a Philadelphia debt relief lawyer.

Should You Stress About Paying Just One Bill Late Just Once?

When you pay your bills on time, you have nothing to show for it except another round of bills.  Paying your rent and utility bills on time has no effect on your credit score, only the bills that only rich people have, such as auto loans and credit cards.  Meanwhile, if you pay a bill late, regardless of what it is, the creditor immediately reports it to the credit reporting bureaus, and it shows up as a negative mark on your credit report.  This can reduce your credit score by 50 points.

A 50-point reduction in your credit score is not a disaster unless you are trying to apply for a loan.  If you simply keep paying your bills on time and do not miss any more payments, your credit score will gradually increase, although the progress may be frustratingly slow.  If you want to borrow money, it is more expensive with a lower credit score, and the chances are greater that the lender will reject your application, which will make your credit score even worse.  It is worthwhile to contact the creditor and ask them if, out of the kindness of their hearts, they will not tell the credit reporting bureaus about your late payment. You can even offer them something in return, such as paying your next bill early or enrolling in auto pay.

Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com About Bouncing Back From a Late Payment

A Philadelphia consumer law attorney can help if you have missed one payment and want to stop the situation from getting worse.  Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.

Source:

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