I accidently forgot to pay one $50 credit card bill and it's totally hurt my credit. HELP!

Anonymous
I have always had excellent credit (>740). I have joint accounts on just about everything with my husband. I wanted to surprise him with tickets to a local orchestra concert last year, so I charged the tickets ($50 total), to a Bank of America credit card that is only in my name and I rarely, rarely use. Because I rarely use the account, I missed the bill and was about 60 days late. I paid the penalty and moved on. It was really stupid of me, but it is the only time I've ever done something like that.

Well, now we are buying a house and that stupid mistake dinged my credit 100 points! In fact, we have to pay 1 point on the mortgage which will cost ~$3000. Do I have any recourse? The mortgage broker said to start by calling Bank of America. Any tips or hints on what to say?
Anonymous
Call and say you've been a customer for x years and have never been late (except of course this one time) and you're wondering if they can extend you any kind of forgiveness given your excellent history with them. Some companies have a one time forgiveness. If the rep says no ask who you can appeal to by way of letter. It would help if there were extenuating circumstances around why you neglected to pay on time, i.e. death in the family, but I am by no means suggesting that you lie. Good luck!
Anonymous
Gosh that is ROUGH! Are you sure it was the credit card payment? A lot of times they have to pursue the bill and so on before it will go on your credit report.
Anonymous
I was under the impression they didn't report one time late pays? Twice in a set amount of time, a year maybe, and they report. I'd pull your credit and make sure this is it.
Anonymous
This happened to me when I was on maternity leave - 60 days late and dinged on a bill. Enough to Lowe my credit scor below 750 and my husband has a great credit score so when we refinanced it was a problem. Couldn't get the best rate with me on it so the financing is done in DH's name only. I'm still on the deed etc on the house - just the financing is in his name only. Talk to your bank or mortgage broker and see if that is an option.
Anonymous
Oh they report them. I know personally.

I used my CC (BoA now) for $20 the month before DD was born. I never use the card but decided to use it so that it wouldn't be closed for inactivity. Totally forgot about it until it was on my credit report for being 30 days late. That was 3 years ago and I'm still mad about that! I lost about 80 points.
Anonymous
Yup. Happened to me with a $20 Macy's charge that I forgot about. I had near perfect credit but forgot about that card that I never use and only did for the discount. Will take another five years before that goes away.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Call and say you've been a customer for x years and have never been late (except of course this one time) and you're wondering if they can extend you any kind of forgiveness given your excellent history with them. Some companies have a one time forgiveness. If the rep says no ask who you can appeal to by way of letter. It would help if there were extenuating circumstances around why you neglected to pay on time, i.e. death in the family, but I am by no means suggesting that you lie. Good luck!


This. When I was in the middle of a move I forgot payment of my cc bill. Called them, had them look up my account to see that I'd paid every bill on time for the last 10yrs and this was clearly an aberration. They forgave it, and even waived a late penalty payment.
Anonymous
For the future Just keep disputing it , it's such a small amount the bank will give on eventually
Anonymous
It hurts but they reported a late payment accurately. Your only recourse is to ask them to erase it. They probably won't but sometimes will depending on the company. Or you can try disputing it. You are disputing accurate information though so be prepared for them to validate it.
Anonymous
I had this happen recently - it killed my credit score. Customer service was no help because the payment was 60 days late, not 30, so I filed a BBB complaint against the company and they removed the late payment from my credit report as a courtesy.

Anonymous
Call. Be persistent. Go into a BOA branch.

Squeaky wheels....

Anonymous
I had it happen with a $25 charge with BOA. They did not take it out. Said it already went to collections and out of their hands. One bank told me it was a pity I had on my creidt report, such a small amont but htat it hurt my credit.
Anonymous
Next time, call the cc issuer right away and ask them to work with you to remove fees, interest, late charges and reporting consequences.
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