There's a simple strategy that can remove Late Payments from Credit Reports and boost your credit score up to 192 points, and today I'm gonna show you exactly how to do it!
Everyone knows what a Late Payment is: you have a bill and a due date, but for whatever reason, you don't make the payment on time.
It's easy to understand because most of us have done it. A LendingTree Survey found that 64% of Americans have been late when paying a bill, and the three most common late payments are utility bills (46%), credit card bills (39%), and cable or internet bills (34%).
Late Payments are a fact of life, and SH*T HAPPENS!
People miss making payments for many legitimate reasons. Some people miss payments because they're in the military, were on Deployment, and didn't receive the bill.
Others miss payments because their medical provider sent them a confusing bill that they thought the Insurance company had already paid.
Sometimes people think they have auto-pay set up when they don't, checks get lost in the mail, and sometimes people lose their jobs and simply can't pay their bills on time because they just don't have the money.
One of our Millionaires Club members, Bruce Politano, told me that even he missed a few payments because he was in a motorcycle accident and spent 11 days in the hospital.
My point? SH*T HAPPENS! The only problem is…
Payment history has a MASSIVE impact on your credit score, and Lenders consider late payments a BIG red flag they hold against you.
SO HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO US?
According to FICO, payment history is the single largest factor that impacts a person's Credit Score, accounting for 35% of the total Credit Score.
And because Credit Scores have a range between 300 to 850. That means Late Payments can change scores up to 192 points!
Those 192 Points make a huge difference. They can take you from having "POOR" Credit to "VERY GOOD" Credit and from "FAIR" Credit to "EXCEPTIONAL" Credit.
This means if you master the process of removing Late Payments from Credit Reports, you've mastered the most impactful part of Credit Repair.
HERE'S THE THING TO REMEMBER
Late Payments aren't reported on your credit report until they're at least 30 days past due. After that, it'll be placed into one of these buckets: 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 150 days past due, and eventually, Charged-off status. Meaning the creditor has written the debt off as a loss.
If you make a late payment, your creditor will report it based on this schedule. The later it is, the more damage it will cause to your credit score.
For example, depending on how high your credit score was to start, it can take between nine months and three years for a score to fully recover from a 30-day late payment. A 90-day late payment can take between nine months and seven years. This is because late payments that are 90 days or longer are considered a KEY DEROGATORY ITEM.
So even if you're already late, you need to make your payments as soon as possible, so the problem doesn't get any worse.
On top of that, most credit card companies pull their cardholder's credit every so often as a soft inquiry to see if they were late with OTHER accounts or to see signs of financial difficulties with OTHER creditors.
If they see any Late Payments with OTHER creditors, they may lower your available credit line or increase your interest rate – EVEN IF YOU'VE ALWAYS MADE PAYMENTS ON TIME WITH THAT CREDIT CARD COMPANY.
It's so terrible, yet they are allowed to do this!
In addition to how late the payment is, the number of late payments and the balance owed also impact your credit report.
That's why you must educate your clients about avoiding late payments whenever possible! That way, they're in a great position to dispute when life eventually happens.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
Believe it or not, all it takes to remove late payments is a little creativity and empathy. And a process called a Goodwill Deletion.
A Goodwill Deletion is a request, not a demand, where you politely ask (or beg) the creditor to remove one or more late payments by explaining the very good reason you missed the payment and by promising to make payments on time in the future.
Goodwill Deletions only work on OPEN accounts that are CURRENT.
A creditor will only consider your Goodwill Deletion request if the account is CURRENT, meaning there is no past due amount.
If the account is closed, try removing the entire account (not just the late payments) because the Goodwill Deletion is based partly on the fact that you had a previous stellar payment history.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you have an OPEN and CURRENT account and a great payment history, but you suddenly have one or a handful of late payments, that's when it's time for a Goodwill Deletion.
If you don't already have a Goodwill Deletion Letter Template, don't worry, you can download one right now for FREE at How to Write a Goodwill Adjustment Letter.
A Goodwill Deletion Letter works by sending it to the creditor, asking them very nicely to remove a late payment, and providing them with a VERY GOOD REASON why the payment was late and why it won't happen again.
It has to be a GREAT story, a tearjerker, something that really moves them. Explain that your child was born that month, or you were hospitalized, or there was a massive power outage, or your family was affected by COVID -- anything extremely difficult that came up that made payment impossible.
Also, remember you are asking the creditor for a favor. So be very nice.
If the main Customer Service address doesn't respond, send it to other departments or individuals. Google the company, go to their LinkedIn, look up their managers, directors, even the CEO, literally anyone, and send a separate letter directly to them. This is called the Saturation Technique, and it's a proven tactic that can help your clients, so go the extra mile.
MY FINAL POINT
Most of us have missed a payment or two. Usually, it's because some life event got in the way. But just because you were late doesn't mean it should haunt your credit for years to come. So put in the effort, go the extra mile, use a bit of creativity, and apply polite pressure. More often than not, you'll get the results you need, and if you do this for a credit repair client, they'll love you for it!
I'll end by saying…
If you don't already have a Credit Repair Cloud account, check it out. It's the software that most Credit Repair businesses in America run on. Just sign up for a 30-Day Free Trial at CreditRepairCloud.com/freetrial
And if you'd like to change lives and grow your own credit repair business, check out our Credit Hero Challenge!
It's an amazing program, and we've got another challenge starting in a few days, so grab your spot right now at CreditHeroChallenge.com!
And remember...
Your Personal Information is the key to a Clean Credit Report.
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