Having late payments on your credit report can have a significant impact on your credit score and can stay on your report for up to seven years. However, there are steps you can take to try and remove late payments from your credit report. In this blog post, we’ll provide important information and secret to delete late payments.
Here are some steps you can follow to try and remove late payments from your credit report:
Check your credit report for accuracy
The first step in removing late payments from your credit report is to check your report for accuracy. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Review your report carefully to ensure that all the information is accurate, including your personal information, account information, and payment history.
Contact the creditor
If you find any errors on your credit report, contact the creditor to correct the information. You can contact the creditor by phone or in writing, providing any supporting documentation that may be required. Be polite and professional, and clearly explain the error and the action you would like the creditor to take.
Dispute the late payments
If you believe that the late payments are inaccurate or unfair, you can dispute them with the credit bureaus. You can do this by writing a letter to each of the credit bureaus that includes the following information:
- Your name and address
- A clear description of the item you are disputing
- The reason why you are disputing the item
- Any supporting documentation that may be required
- A request for the item to be removed or corrected
The credit bureau will then investigate your dispute and contact the creditor to verify the information.
Goodwill letter; Our secret to delete late payments
If you have a good payment history with the creditor, you may be able to ask them to remove the late payments as a goodwill gesture. A goodwill letter is a formal request asking the creditor to remove the late payments from your credit report. In the letter, explain why you were late with the payments, and provide any supporting documentation that may be required. Be polite and professional, and clearly explain the action you would like the creditor to take.
It’s really simple!
- You are essentially asking the creditor to remove one or more late payments.
- You have a really good excuse.
- You’re also promising to make payments on time in the future.
When you’re using a goodwill intervention as a tool to get results, here are some tips to remember.
Goodwill interventions only work on OPEN accounts.
A goodwill intervention is based on previous stellar payment history with that account.
But if the account is closed, it’s no longer possible to remove the late payment history, so your strategy may be to work towards removing the entire account.
Another thing to keep in mind …
Goodwill interventions only work on CURRENT accounts.
This strategy only works if the account is CURRENT, meaning there is no past due amount. If the creditor gets a request to remove late payments on an account that is past due, they’ll only consider it once it’s current.
Now that you’ve determined which OPEN and CURRENT accounts that have always had a great payment history but suddenly had one or a handful of late payments, you’re ready to take these simple steps to deletion!
- Next, make sure you have a really GOOD EXCUSE. A goodwill deletion letter works by sending it to the creditor asking them very nicely to remove a late payment. Again, try to have a GREAT story… something that moves them. Maybe your client’s child was born that month, or maybe they were hospitalized, or maybe their family was affected by COVID — or something really, really difficult came up that made them suddenly unable to pay.
- Remember, you are essentially asking for a favor. Be SUPER nice, and if the main customer service address doesn’t respond, try sending it to various departments or individual people within the company. If these late payments are really hurting your client, and you’re really serious about doing everything you can to remove them, go the extra mile. You can always Google the company or use LinkedIn to find the CEO, VP, managers, directors, or anyone you find with contact information and send a separate letter directly to them.
And that’s all it takes!! Simple, right?!
Empathy, creativity, and some added elbow grease – you’ll be amazed to see that more often than not, you’ll get the GREAT results by following our secrets to delete late payments.
Why is it SO important to remove late payments?
- Payment history makes up roughly 35% of their total score!
- Lenders see late payments as a bright red flag. It’s a sign that the person likely won’t pay them on time.
- Did you know that most credit card companies check to see if their card holders are on time with OTHER creditors? They do!! Periodically, they pull their card holder’s credit to see if there are signs of financial difficulties with OTHER creditors.
- And, if they find any issues, they may lower the available credit line or even increase their interest rate … EVEN IF YOUR CLIENT HAS NEVER BEEN LATE WITH THEM ON A PAYMENT.
That means, even one late payment can cause a domino effect. That’s why we suggest and educate our clients to never be late with anybody IF possible. But sometimes, life throws an obstacle our way, and nobody’s perfect! Just because your payment was marked as late doesn’t always mean you have to live with it.
In conclusion, removing late payments from your credit report can be a lengthy and challenging process. It’s essential to check your credit report for accuracy, dispute any errors, and communicate effectively with your creditors and credit bureaus. By following these steps and secret to delete late payments, you can improve your credit scores.
