I really screwed up. I didn't notice when I paid my one store credit card - JCPenny, or as they want to be called now JCP - that there was a missed payment and a late fee. So I paid my usual something above the minimum payment, but not the correct amount. And, of course, they reported it to the credit agencies. Tom found out because he was trying to buy me my hearts desire - a very expensive gift - and wanted to finance it.
So because I was distracted (getting ready for surgery) and then didn't read my bill, our credit score was dropped by over 100 points.
I take responsibility. I am an idiot. However, when I called JCP to talk to them about this and make sure I was making an additional payment to cover all the current charges to bring me up to date, the woman on the phone said that they "have to report" accounts late over 41 days.
This is not true. There is no law or other requirement that credit card companies report to the agencies.
Why such a huge hit to our credit score? According to a finance writer on Credit.com:
The bottom line? One slip up and your credit score may take a dive, especially if you have otherwise stellar credit.
'The old analogy of 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' applies to credit scores, too," warns Ely. "If you have a really high FICO Score, you'll take a bigger hit for a late payment than someone with a lower FICO Score."
We are going to try to get it removed, of course. Not in order for me to get my gift, but because we plan to move in the spring and we need that credit score back where it was.
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4 comments:
Good luck with it!
Good to know although I'm pretty sure this will happen to me one day for any number of reasons. Please update what hopefully is success at getting a minor oversight corrected. It's a flawed system that doesn't allow for rare mistakes
people use to take things like surgery in consideration!
I was once turned over to collections for a 5.00 check I wrote and bounced- this was 35 years ago- I called the store- said I will come in and clear the debit- too late they turned me in to a collection agency.
There should be a way- we are human.
Wow, I had no idea that it works that way. Seems pretty unfair to me. Good luck. :)
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