When does a bill become 30 day late? Say its due on the 22nd and i pay it on the 7th of the following month. Would that be considered a 30 day late?
I can give ya the example I was given with my mortgage. It's been awhile since I asked this, but Chase told me that since my mortgage is due on the first of the month, if they don't receive it by midnight of the last day of the month (BUT -before the next 1st of the month) - I am 30 days late. It was kinda the middle of March then, and I was late, so that meant that March 1st, my payment was due. I missed that date to pay. So, if I didn't wanna be late - I'd have to have my payment there by March 31st by 11:59pm so I'd be there/paid before the 1st of April.
That would be a reasonable interpretation for a mortgage. For a CC, which has a due date on the statement, you should consider it erroneous reporting if they report it 30 days late, but they received payment sooner than 30 days after the due date. In general, I would try to make due dates, both to avoid late fees and interest rate increases, and to ensure positive credit reporting, but if they trump up a late payment when it wasn't actually 30 days late, I would push on it, including regulatory complaints if necessary. I would consider falsely reporting 30 days late as both erroneous reporting and an unfair and deceptive trade practice, giving them an advantage in hiking your rates while undercutting your ability to obtain competitive offers from others. To see the tactic carried to an extreme, search on "Fairbanks Capital".
keep communication open with your cc company also, this bears mentioning. if you think you might be late or whatever, contact your cc company and try to get a month off, or offer to pay part of your due amount. sometimes they will be cool. most CC companies have a ridiculously low miniumum payment anyway, and they are commited to keeping you in debt as long as possible. if you have to, say you are having some type of family emergency (you don't want to do this every month), but it is better to keep lines of communication open and let them know you are trying and want to honor the debt. if you get someone on the line that is less than helpfull, try calling back untill you get someone who is cool and might be willing to help. hope that info is usefull
