How to fix your credit score after a late payment

@ayana_weissnat 1. Contact the creditor: Reach out to the creditor who reported the late payment and explain the situation. Request that they reconsider their report if you have extenuating circumstances that explain why you were late.

1. Make a payment: Make the payment you missed, plus any late fees, as soon as possible. This shows creditors that you're committed to fulfilling your obligations and not ignoring them.
2. Monitor your credit report: Check your credit reports and scores carefully for other inaccuracies or outdated information that could be lowering your credit score.
3. Set up automatic payments: Setting up automatic payments for all of your bills can help ensure that a late payment doesn’t hurt your credit score in the future.
4. Pay on time: Make sure to pay all of your bills on time going forward. This will help improve your payment history, which makes up 35% of your credit score.
5. Keep credit utilization low: To keep your credit score in the healthy range, you’ll want to make sure that you’re only using a small percentage of your available credit. Generally, it’s best to use no more than 30% of your available credit.

@ayana_weissnat 

There are a few steps you can take to try to fix your credit score after a late payment:

1. Make sure the late payment is reported correctly on your credit report: Check your credit report to make sure that the late payment is being reported correctly. If there is an error, you can file a dispute with the credit bureau to have the mistake corrected.
2. Pay your bills on time going forward: One of the most important things you can do to improve your credit score is to pay your bills on time. Set up payment reminders or automatic payments to help ensure that you don't miss any payments in the future.
3. Consider setting up a payment plan: If you are having trouble paying your bills on time due to financial hardship, you may be able to set up a payment plan with your creditor. This can help you get back on track with your payments and avoid further late payments.
4. Use credit responsibly: In addition to paying your bills on time, it's important to use credit responsibly. This means only borrowing what you can afford to pay back, and not maxing out your credit cards or opening too many credit accounts in a short period of time.

It's important to note that repairing your credit score can take time. It's not something that can be done overnight. However, by following the steps outlined above and being consistent with your payments and credit usage, you can work to improve your credit score over time.