One Late Payment Can’t Hurt, Right?
WRONG. One simple 30 day late can drop your credit rating more than 60 points! Your creditors send updates to the credit bureaus notifying them of your activity. A late payment on one account acts as a red flag, alerting lenders that the same could trickle down onto your other lines of credit as well. Credit card companies have become increasingly more strict on consumers – even first time offenders – that pay their bills late. Why? Again, it’s all about risk. Other creditors could view this late payment as something that could potential happen on your account with them. As a result, they may raise your interest rates and potentially charge you additional fees. These added expenses can become very costly, depending on how many lines of credit you have.
