First is the money you will lose by paying late.  Every account that you pay late assesses a fee.  This could be any amount and your account decides what it is.  You are now responsible for this additional fee.  The fee will be added onto your bill and the money you pay will first go towards the this fee then to the late payment.  So the fee will come first and you must pay this so you are not accessed another fee.

Second is the potential effect on the interest rates you are charged.  Your credit card accounts frequently review your credit report looking for any changes in behavior.  If there is a late payment to any account not only that account but any of your accounts can reserve the right to raise your interest rate.  So one late payment could cause a rise in your interest rates by several different accounts.

Last is going to effect your credit score for a long time.  Late payments stay on your credit report for seven years.  You could be just thinking about today, but they will follow you for a long time.  And could hurt your chances of getting a loan in the future.

You never want to pay late.  Things like having a budget or using online bill pay could be simple ways to make sure you do not pay late.

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The longer the time of a late payment the larger negative effect it carries.

• 30 Days Late – Being 30 days late is hurtful when your are reported as being currently late.  If paid their weight is not large, but will grow if you consistently make late payments.  A pattern forms painting a picture of a person who pays late.
• 60 Days Late – 60 days late has the same effect that as being 30 days late.
• 90 Days Late - Being 90 days late will follow you around and could possibly hurt a credit score for up to seven years.  90 days is a often a company standard for what is considered bad debt or possibly uncollectible.  Creditors at all cost want to avoid payments that are 90 days late and even one can a large drop in a credit score.
• 120 Days Late - at this point of severity creditors consider the debt to uncollectible and this is often then written off or is sent to a collection agency.

Being 120 days late can result in several outcomes besides just being listed as late.  It can result in:

• Settlements – these are agreements between a creditor and individual in the effort by the creditor to collect some if not all the debt.  This is a severe delinquency and will be noted as a debt settlement on your credit report.
• Repossession and Foreclosure – obviously the taking back of collateral whether house or car is a true sign of delinquency.  This as serious as it comes and will be noted accordingly on your credit report.
• Collections – if after a certain point a creditor believes that debt will remain in delinquency, they will send the account to collections.  This is often farmed out to a collection agency.  Additionally, paying the collection agency will not have them removed from your credit report.

You need to understand that being late on any amount regardless of the amount carries the same negative effect on your credit score.  So a late amount of $40 is just as negative as being late on $1000.

You need to avoid late payments.  Their implications can haunt a credit report for a very long period of time.  If you are late catch them early and get your payment in.  Hitting the 90 day mark will especially follow you around.

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