Good credit is sometimes difficult to achieve. Even when it is achieved often times it’s hard to keep your credit score in a decent range. One of the main credit factors that determines your credit rating is whether you pay your credit card bills on time or whether you frequently forget to send out that payment.
People have so many reasons for not paying their bills on time. Some of them are due to plain neglect and some are due to loss of a job or inability to work because of illness. Regardless of the reason, the credit card companies can report you to the credit bureau if you are over 30 days late on your payments. If you are just a few weeks late, they can make your life miserable by fining you huge fees.
When you find that you have gotten behind on your payments and your late fees are accumulating, you can always call your credit card company and ask for them to work with you on perhaps lowering your fee or eliminating it altogether depending on your reason for missing the payment. You’d be surprised how many fees can be eliminated by doing this.
If you are over 30 days late on your payment, you will have to find out whether you have been reported to the credit bureaus. If they have reported you, then this is where your credit score will start to go down. It will take a while before that negative ding will go away. The more times you are reported to the credit bureau, the lower your credit score will go.
You can contact the credit bureaus by calling these numbers:
- Equifax (800-685-1111)
- Experian (888-397-3742)
- Trans Union (800-888-4213)
Maintaining good credit will help you in your efforts to attain financial security. Financial security is defined as the comfortable feeling that your finanical resources will be adequate to fulfill any needs you have as well as most of your wants. Doesn’t everyone deserve that?
Maintain good credit by paying your bills on time and keeping track of what is going on with your credit report before any big problems arise.
