Can I get late payments removed from my credit report?
Matthew Harrington
Updated on February 06, 2026
Ask the lender to remove it with a goodwill adjustment letter. This is a straightforward way to get a late payment removed from your credit report. The process is easy: simply write a letter to your creditor explaining why you paid late. Ask them to forgive the late payment and assure them it won’t happen again.
How long does it take for late payments to come off your credit?
approximately seven years
Generally speaking, negative information such as late or missed payments, accounts that have been sent to collection agencies, accounts not being paid as agreed, or bankruptcies stays on credit reports for approximately seven years.
Do goodwill letters Work 2019?
While it’s not guaranteed to work, writing a goodwill letter to your creditors could result in negative marks being removed from your credit reports.
How long does it take for a late payment to go off your credit report?
In essence, all negative items have a specific amount of time they can hang around your credit reports, after which time they have to be removed. In the case of late payments, that time limit is seven years from the date of delinquency. After the seven years have passed, the late payment should come off of your credit report automatically.
How does a late car payment affect your credit score?
Having just one delinquent account on your credit report can be devastating to your credit scores. Whether it’s a late car payment, credit card payment, or mortgage payment, a recent late payment can cause as much as a 90-110 point drop in your FICO score.
Can a late payment be removed from Credit Card Insider?
Credit Card Insider and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. A list of these issuers can be found on our Editorial Guidelines. If a late payment is on your credit reports in error, you can get it removed with a dispute relatively easily.
What can be removed from a credit report?
Lexington Law successfully disputed and removed over 9 million negative accounts in 2018; over 1.2 million of them were late payments. They can delete all kinds of negative items from your credit reports, including bankruptcies, foreclosures, repossessions, charge offs, judgments, tax liens, collections, late payments and more.