When Do Late Payments Fall Off Your Credit Report?

Late payments can significantly impact your credit score and remain visible to lenders reviewing your credit report. Understanding how long late payments stay on your credit report—and what you can do about them—is essential for managing your credit health and planning your financial future.

This article explains when different types of late payments fall off your credit report, how they affect your credit score over time, and steps you can take to minimize their impact while you wait for them to be removed.

Key points

• Late payments remain on your credit report for seven years from the original delinquency date, which is when the account first became past due and was never brought current, regardless of whether the account is later closed or sold to collections.
• The negative impact of late payments decreases over time, even though they remain visible for the full seven-year period, as credit scoring models place greater emphasis on recent payment behavior, and a consistent pattern of on-time payments can help your score recover before the removal date.
• You can only remove late payments early by filing a dispute with the credit bureaus or the creditor, but only if they were reported inaccurately.

How do late payments impact your credit score?

Late payments can cause significant damage to your credit score, with the severity of the impact depending on several factors, including how late the payment was, how recently it occurred, and your overall credit history. Payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO Score calculation, making it the single most important factor in determining your creditworthiness. ^[1]

Typically, a payment will be classed as late and reported to the credit bureaus if it has not been paid for at least 30 days after the payment is due. Even one missed or late payment can impact your credit score. ^[2]

The impact on your score of any given credit action is dependent on your starting credit profile. FICO simulated how different credit actions might impact someone’s FICO 9 credit score. The simulation showed that, when using the FICO Score 9 model, a 30-day missed payment could cause a credit score of 607 (Fair) to drop by between 17 and 37 points, and a 793 credit score (Very Good) could drop by 63 to 83 points. ^[3]

Levels of delinquency can impact your score differently

The length of time that a payment is late can have different impacts on your credit, with longer delinquencies typically damaging your credit more than shorter ones. The table below outlines the potential impacts of varying late payment levels.

Source ^[4]

Long-term implications of late payments

Beyond the immediate score drop, late payments can affect your financial life in other ways. Lenders reviewing your credit report may view late payments as indicators of credit risk, which could lead to loan denials or less favorable terms, such as higher interest rates. The presence of late payments can also impact your ability to qualify for credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and even rental applications.

Though late payments can affect your credit scores during the years they are on your credit report, the negative impact on your credit score typically decreases over time. ^[5]

How long do late payments stay on your credit report?

Understanding the timeline for late payments on your credit report is essential for managing your credit health and planning for future financial goals.

Late payments remain on your credit report for up to seven years, starting from when the delinquency was initially reported. This timeline is mandated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which governs how long negative information can remain on consumer credit files. ^{[5] [6]}

The original delinquency date marks when an account first went delinquent without being brought current—essentially the first missed payment in a series—and this date determines when late payment information will be removed from your credit report. For example, if you missed a payment in June 2024 and never caught up, that delinquency would remain on your report until June 2031. ^[7]

Multiple late payments

If you miss several payments in a row, your account may become 90 days or more past due. The credit bureaus treat that entire period of missed payments as one event that started with your first missed payment. That’s important because the seven-year removal period — the time after which late payments are automatically deleted from your credit report — begins from that very first missed payment that led to the delinquency. So, even if you missed multiple payments after that, they’ll all share the same removal date. The clock doesn’t restart each month you miss another payment.^[7]

Charge-offs

Credit card accounts that reach 180 days past due must be closed and charged off by the issuer, which means the account is written off as a loss, although the debt is still owed.

These charge-offs typically remain on your credit report for seven years from the original delinquency date. If the debt is subsequently sold to a collection agency, the collection account also uses that same original delinquency date for removal—the timeline doesn't reset when ownership of the debt changes. ^[5]

When do creditors report late payments?

Typically, late payments are reported to credit bureaus once they reach 30 days or more past the due date. This gives you a grace period—if you can bring the account current before hitting 30 days late, the delinquency usually won't appear on your credit report. However, late fees and other penalties may still apply during this time. ^[5]

One notable exception involves federal student loans. Federal student loans aren't reported as late until reaching at least 90 days past due. This provides student loan borrowers with additional time before delinquency appears on their credit report, however they can still accrue fees and interest during this time. ^[8]

Can you remove late payments from your credit report?

It is not possible to remove accurate late payments from your credit report, but if the late payments have been added in error, there are some steps you can take to have them removed.

Filing a dispute

If you discover an incorrectly reported late payment, you can file a dispute. You may want to submit a dispute directly to the creditor that reported the late payment, including any documentation you have, like a copy of a canceled check or a payment confirmation email. You also have the option to dispute the information directly with each of the three major credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

The creditor has to carry out an investigation, and this process can take up to 30 days. If it agrees that there was an error, it will send an update to all the credit bureaus it reports to and have the late payment corrected or deleted. ^[9]

Bottom line

Late payments can stay on your credit report for seven years, starting from the date that the late payment was reported to the credit bureaus. Though late payments will impact your credit scores during this period, the negative effect can decrease over time.

Sources

1. MyFICO, “What’s in Your Credit Score?” https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score Accessed October 22, 2025
2. Equifax, “When Late Payments Show on Credit Reports” https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/credit-cards/articles/-/learn/when-late-credit-card-payments-post/ Accessed October 22, 2025
3. MyFICO, “How Credit Actions Impact FICO Scores” https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/faq/affects-of-credit-actions Accessed October 22, 2025
4. Experian, “When Does Debt Become Delinquent?” https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/when-does-debt-become-delinquent/ Accessed October 22, 2025
5. Experian, “How Long do Charge-Offs Stay On Your Credit Report” https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-long-do-charge-offs-stay-on-your-credit-report/ Accessed October 22, 2025
6. FTC, “Fair Credit Reporting Act” https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/fair-credit-reporting-act Accessed October 22, 2025
7. Experian, “How to Determine an Account’s Original Delinquency Date” https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-to-determine-accounts-original-delinquency-date/ Accessed October 22, 2025
8. Experian, “When Do Late Payments Get Reported” https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/when-do-late-payments-get-reported/ Accessed October 22, 2025
9. Experian, “How Can I Remove Late Payments From My Credit Reports?” https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-can-i-remove-late-payments-from-my-credit-report/ Accessed October 22, 2025

About the author

Becca has over 10 years of experience as a content writer, working across various industries including finance, digital marketing, education, travel, and technology. Her work has been featured in publications including Forbes, Business Insider, AOL, Yahoo, GOBankingRates, and more.

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