Delinquent or derogatory account

VantageScore code numbers

Code numbers can differ by bureau and score version. The wording of the statement is what to match.

What puts this reason on your score

VantageScore's explanation for this code says your file shows an account with a payment at least 30 days late. The same statement covers the more serious statuses a lender can report, such as a charge-off. One 30-day late on one card is enough to produce it.

The 3.0 wording says more plainly what the model reads: the worst payment status anywhere in your file. Ten perfect accounts and one 60-day late still leave that one worst status on record. How much it costs depends on how late, how recent and how many, which is why VantageScore splits those out into separate codes.

What to check on your credit report

• Every account's payment grid for any month marked 30, 60, 90 or more days late
• Accounts showing charge-off, collection or included in bankruptcy
• That each late is really yours: the right account, the right month, and a payment that truly arrived late
• The date of first delinquency on any charged-off or collection account, since that date sets when it leaves the report

What you can do about it

• Bring any account that's behind back to current first. A late that keeps aging into 60 and 90 days does more damage than the original 30.
• Dispute a late with the bureau or the lender only if it's wrong, for example a payment the lender received on time.
• For a one-time slip on an otherwise clean account, a goodwill request to the lender is worth a try. Lenders can say no, since accurate reporting is allowed.
• Turn on autopay for at least the minimum on every account so a new late can't stack on the old one.

The free drop off calculator can help with this step.

How soon a change can show

A late payment can stay on your report for up to seven years. Its weight fades as on-time months are reported on top of it, and each lender adds a new month when it sends its monthly update.

If you are applying for a mortgage

Underwriters read the late payment itself as well as the score, and they can ask you to explain recent lates in writing. A late on a housing payment draws the closest look, so keep every account current from now through closing.

Guides that go deeper

• How a late payment affects your credit score, using FICO's own numbersFICO's own simulation shows a 30-day late can cost a 793 score far more than a 607 score. Why that happens, and what FICO weighs about each late payment.
• How long late payments stay on your credit report, with the date mathLate payments can be reported for up to 7 years, and paying the account doesn't shorten that. Which date starts the clock, and how to find yours.
• How to write a goodwill letter, with a sampleA goodwill letter asks a lender to drop an accurate late payment as a courtesy. No law requires it and results are mixed. How to give yours a fair shot.
• How a late payment grows from 30 to 90 daysA missed payment can be reported as 30, then 60, then 90 days late. See how lates stack, why one payment may not catch you up, and how to stop the slide.
• What your credit score reason codes are telling youReason codes list what held your score back the most, in order. What the common ones mean, which you can act on, and which to leave alone.