Probably overreacting, but how much will one 30 day late payment affect your score? Damn Duke energy didn't send me the bill and I didn't even notice it until a month late

6/20/2007 6:40:49 PM

most of the time utility companies wont report it as long as you pay right away


typical penalties are around:


Mortgage payment late 30 days, 60-120 points
Auto loan payment late 30 days once 30-60 points
Credit card late payment once 15-30 points

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 6:49 PM. Reason : .]

6/20/2007 6:47:57 PM

pretty much as long as it doesn't go into collection your credit won't be affected--but if you're late a lot they'll make you pay a deposit if you move

6/20/2007 6:51:18 PM

i like at credit reports everyday, unless it is more than 60 days, i dont really care....and it doesnt really do much unless you have lots of them. For one person, I pulled transunion and Equifax, transunion has some judgements not closed out, Equifax had most of them closed and the score was 50pts higher.


transunion had like 3 of the 5 collections closed
equifax had 4 of the 5 and the person provided proof the 5th was paid.

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 7:30 PM. Reason : w]

6/20/2007 7:28:15 PM

f that...I had one credit card that was sending a bill to an email address that was closed out...had a $13.55 balance and was 90 days late b/c I didn't know I had the balance.

Shit made my score drop 130 points! Thats the only black mark there has ever been on my credit and it drops that much!

6/20/2007 11:05:28 PM

what's a good site to use to get your credit score?

6/20/2007 11:41:44 PM

For free?

6/20/2007 11:50:54 PM

freecreditreport.com ?

6/21/2007 12:05:53 AM

^^ i had hoped

^ i had heard some questionable stuff about that site. Anyone else used it?

6/21/2007 12:07:17 AM

^^1. That's not the legit site. The real site is annualcreditreport.com



2. You won't get a free credit score from there, you have to pay for it. The one you pay for won't be your actual FICO score, so it's not necessarily accurate. The only way to know your true credit score is to go to myfico.com and order from there.

[Edited on June 21, 2007 at 12:08 AM. Reason : slow]

6/21/2007 12:07:53 AM

^ you will get a free credit score from experian from that site for 1 month - if you cancel before the month is up then it is 100% free - your other scores are typically very close to the experian score

6/21/2007 12:10:35 AM

point omar

6/21/2007 12:12:08 AM

Quote :

"your other scores are typically very close to the experian score"

Maybe, maybe not. Your actual scores vary depending on what is actually reporting on that credit report, since not everything reports on all 3. Plus when you order it from Experian they use their own scoring model so your actual score could be off by up to 100 points in either direction.

6/21/2007 12:14:47 AM

you must have read right over that word "typically" - but yes everything you said is true - which is why i included that word - there is a benefit in getting reports/scores from all 3 companies but you will not get all 3 of them for free - you can get them from numerous sources and there is not only 1 company that provides this service

6/21/2007 12:19:47 AM

The word typically implies that most of the time they would follow that pattern. I don't necessarily believe that to be the case, so I replied accordingly.

6/21/2007 12:21:29 AM

http://www.truecredit.com

E-mails you when ANYTHING changes, I had an account pop up on there that was not mine and had it taken off in under two weeks. It's $15 a month but well worth it to protect against ID theft and to monitor your scores. You can update it every day if you so choose.

It monitors all 3 bureaus and shows your FICO scores.

6/21/2007 12:38:31 AM

^You can also get a discount on that through some websites. I think if you get it through Walmart it's only like 9 something a month.

6/21/2007 12:41:33 AM

it's usually a matter of how many late payments within a 6 months span and how late they were. So if you more than one within 6 months, it will be a problem. Otherwise you're good.

6/21/2007 9:25:03 AM

It was a one time deal, and was only 30 days late. It will never happen again. But I'm also about to start looking about purchasing a house around December, and I don't want this to bite me

and it's a duke energy power bill btw

[Edited on June 21, 2007 at 11:50 AM. Reason : .]

6/21/2007 11:48:15 AM

Utility Bills are not reported on your credit unless they go to collection.

You can pay it months late and it still will not show unless they put it in collections. Dont mess around with loans and credit cards and you will be ok.


If you are looking to buy a house go ahead and pull your credit scores from all 3 bureaus. The mortgage companies will go by your middle score (the middle of the three). In the event there are mistakes on your credit or items to dispute you can go ahead and do that because it takes a few months to get the investigations complete.

6/21/2007 1:01:16 PM

This is nonsense. Don't go pulling your credit for nothing. Thats a waste of five points. Just wait until you go to buy something and and whoever will pull it anyway and they have to share with you whats on it by law.

6/21/2007 2:48:13 PM

Your score does NOT lower when you check it via the free federal site (can't remember it offhand)... only if a hard check is done, for example by a creditor if you apply for a new card...

6/21/2007 2:50:05 PM

Speaking of credit - does good payment history on a auto loan for a motorcycle count just like a car would?

6/21/2007 2:52:06 PM

they don't put the type of car on the loan - just the amount...

6/21/2007 2:53:08 PM

Quote :

"This is nonsense. Don't go pulling your credit for nothing. Thats a waste of five points. Just wait until you go to buy something and and whoever will pull it anyway and they have to share with you whats on it by law."

They should teach credit 101 to dumbfucks like you in high school. Since you can't operate the internet let me explain it to you.

Personally checking your credit does not affect your scores in any way. You are penalized for hard inquiries when you apply for a loan or credit card.

When you are planning a big purchase it is not very bright to wait until applying for the loan to figure out where your credit stands. If an inaccuracy is found its a little late then to start trying to get it resolved. If you plan to take a large loan or mortgage you may even need to USE some of your credit cards in the months prior to show the bank you have a payment history. If your credit report is completely dormant with no money being paid then it actually can effect you negatively on large purchases.

Quote :

"Not all inquiries count toward your FICO score. When you check your credit report, you may notice that a number of credit inquiries have been made, sometimes from businesses that you don’t know. But the only inquiries that count toward your FICO score are the ones that result from your applications for new credit. * Inquiries that count toward your FICO score. There is only one type of credit inquiry that counts toward your FICO score. When you apply for a mortgage, auto loan or other credit, you authorize the lender to request a copy of your credit report. These types of inquiries, prompted by your own actions, appear on your credit report and are included in your FICO score. * Inquiries that don’t count toward your FICO score. Your own credit report requests, credit checks made by businesses to offer you goods or services, or inquiries made by businesses with whom you already have a credit account do not count toward your FICO score. Credit checks by prospective employers also do not count. These types of inquiries may appear on your credit report, but they are not included in your FICO score. "

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/CreditInquiries.aspx

6/21/2007 3:47:05 PM

^ That's why I was looking now

We're planning on looking at houses beginning in December, and probably closing on a place in Feb or March

I was hoping that 6-8 months was enough time to fix any mistakes I saw

6/21/2007 4:09:51 PM

ehh, nevermind

[Edited on June 21, 2007 at 10:44 PM. Reason : w ]

6/21/2007 10:44:06 PM

Why do people worry so much about credit score? Why does it matter?

6/21/2007 10:53:32 PM

6/21/2007 11:09:44 PM

I'm thinking of a number between 300 and 850. what is it?

6/22/2007 3:08:33 AM

so what stuff affects your credit score if you pay late? (assuming it doesnt go to collections)

i always end up being late on my cell bill, wonder if that's completely fucking my score up or not.

6/22/2007 3:17:14 AM

^^^No, seriously. I have an excellent credit score, but what has it ever done for me?

6/23/2007 1:38:33 PM

Well it saves you money when you buy a house or a car or get another type of loan because you get a lower interest rate.
It gives you access to better credit cards that offer 0% balance transfer offers, low interest rates, and great rewards.

6/23/2007 2:14:58 PM

Quote :

"so what stuff affects your credit score if you pay late? (assuming it doesnt go to collections) i always end up being late on my cell bill, wonder if that's completely fucking my score up or not. "

No. The only thing that's payment history is tracked on your credit report is loans and credit cards. Bills are not unless they are in collections at which point the company will have the negative information added to your credit report.

6/23/2007 2:19:05 PM

^^I don't buy stuff I can't afford, though. That includes cars. I use plastic for convenince and to earn a percentage back.

6/23/2007 2:41:30 PM

^ are you asian or something?

6/23/2007 3:59:34 PM

Quote :

"I don't buy stuff I can't afford, though. That includes cars."

Just because you can afford to pay cash, doesn't mean that it is the right decision. Financing sometimes makes more sense.

6/23/2007 4:01:27 PM

I understand not financing cars, but I assume you're going to want to buy a house someday. Most people don't have the money to pay for a house upfront and it wouldn't make much sense to do that anyway.

6/23/2007 4:13:02 PM

coz, are you going to be paying cash when you buy your first house or are you just trolling

or are you retarded, i know you arent retarded

6/23/2007 6:28:43 PM

My mother was showing a 1.2 million dollar house once and the guy started talking about how he did not like the paint colors, then he was like "man i got cash in the truck".

Needless to say he was not a candidate for purchasing that home.

6/23/2007 7:20:47 PM

I just don't get why people agonize about it so much. You can't get a bad credit score unless you are stupid with your money.

6/23/2007 7:32:11 PM

^ It's people with bad credit who agonize about it. Just like how dumb people agonize over what they'll get on a test, ugly people agonize about their appearance, etc. If it's not a problem for a person they aren't going to worry about it.


Or they pose a hypothetical question just to provide an opportunity to brag about how awesome their finances and credit are.

Or they are just that neurotic. I suppose that is a possibility.

[Edited on June 23, 2007 at 9:14 PM. Reason : 3rd]

6/23/2007 9:11:35 PM

Quote :

"Or they pose a hypothetical question just to provide an opportunity to brag about how awesome their finances and credit are."

BURN!

6/23/2007 11:00:46 PM