Why has my credit score dropped 42 points? There is a late payment on one of my cards which has since been brought current, and four of my accounts have been paid off and have a "0" balance. Why doesn't my score increase as quickly when I pay off accounts as it does when I miss a payment?
- KRS
Dear KRS,
There are many factors within your credit history that affect your credit scores. The single most important indicator of credit risk is your payment history. A missed payment will have the greatest and longest lasting impact. The more recently the missed payment occurred, the greater that impact will be, and the more missed payments you have, the longer it will take to recover.
How to Recover from a Missed Payment
Think about someone who has broken your trust. It takes just one action in one moment to lose your trust, but it could take weeks, months or even years of positive interactions to regain it, depending on what the person did to violate your trust.
Bringing the account current is an important first step in restoring your credit scores, but to offset the risk the late payment represented, you must continue to demonstrate a current history of on-time payments.
Use at least one of your credit cards to make occasional small purchases and pay the balance on time and in full each month to avoid finance charges. These on-time payments will add positive activity to help off-set the negative payments in your past. Keeping your balances low will have a positive impact on your credit scores as well.
Over time your credit scores will rebound. The length of time it takes to recover will depend on how serious any other negative issues were.
Thanks for asking.
Jennifer White, Consumer Education Specialist
