Key Takeaway: A delinquent account is a credit account that’s past due for payment, even if it’s only late by one day. But creditors generally don’t report the account as delinquent to the credit bureaus until it’s at least 30 days past due.
Any credit account that goes unpaid past its due date, even by one day, is a delinquent account.
But there’s a meaningful difference between a payment that’s a few days late and one that’s months overdue. A creditor may charge you a late fee for missing your payment due date by a few days, for example, but it won’t typically report your account as delinquent to the credit bureaus unless it’s 30 days or more past due.
Once reported, a delinquency can negatively affect your credit history and cause your scores to drop. Here’s what it means to have a delinquent account, how it may affect your credit and what you can consider doing if you have one.
- What does a delinquent account on your credit report mean?
- What happens when your account becomes delinquent?
- How does a delinquent account affect my credit scores?
- How do I remove a delinquency from my credit reports?
- What’s next? Checking your credit reports
- FAQs about delinquent accounts
What does a delinquent account on your credit report mean?
A delinquent account on your credit report means a creditor reported that you fell behind on a payment by at least 30 days. Any account is technically considered delinquent the moment a payment becomes past due — even by a single day — but most creditors won’t report that delinquency to the credit bureaus until you’re 30 or more days late.
Not every past-due bill ends up on your credit reports. Many credit accounts — like credit cards and loans — report to the bureaus, but other accounts — like utility accounts — only report if the debt is sent to collections.
Once you cross the 30-day mark, delinquency is often reported in stages. Generally, the further behind you fall, the more a delinquency may affect your credit. Creditors typically show how far past due you are with credit report marks like these:
- 30 days past due
- 60 days past due
- 90 days past due
- 120 days past due
- 150 days past due
Delinquent vs. defaulted account
A delinquent account is one you’ve fallen behind on but could still bring current in the eyes of your lender, while a defaulted account is one the lender has largely stopped expecting you to repay on the original terms. After an account stays delinquent for a long stretch, usually somewhere between 90 and 270 days, a creditor may consider it in default and charge it off.
A charge-off means the creditor writes the unpaid balance off as a loss for accounting purposes, and it may sell the account to a collection agency. A charge-off doesn’t erase what you owe — the debt still exists, it just moves to a different stage.
What happens when your account becomes delinquent?
Depending on the type of account and how far behind you are, missing a payment can cause you to run into one or more of the following issues:
- Late fees — A creditor may charge a late fee as soon as you miss the due date. It may be a flat fee or a percentage of your missed payment amount.
- Lost grace periods — For many credit cards, any purchases you make during your grace period won’t accrue interest if you pay your statement balance in full by the due date. If you miss a payment, your grace period will typically be taken away, and you’ll be charged interest on your remaining balance and any new purchases immediately.
- Additional interest and fees — Interest may keep building on the past-due balance. If the account is in collection, the collector may also add its own charges, if allowed in the original contract or by law.
- Credit damage — Once a delinquency is reported, it may lower your credit scores and stay on your reports for up to seven years.
- A penalty APR — Many credit card issuers apply a higher interest rate, known as a penalty APR, once you’re 60 days past due. The higher rate is often in place for at least six months.
- Lost promotional rates — If you have an introductory or promotional APR on your credit card, missing a payment could cause your card issuer to revoke the promotion.
How does a delinquent account affect my credit scores?
A delinquent account can only hurt your credit scores after it’s been reported to the credit bureaus — typically once you’re at least 30 days past due. If you bring the account current before then, the late payment may not show up on your credit reports at all.
When a delinquency is reported, it becomes part of your payment history, which is one of the most important credit score factors. Even a single late payment can cause your scores to drop.
A delinquency may also have an indirect effect on your credit utilization rate, or the amount of your revolving credit you’re using compared with your total available credit. Lower credit utilization is generally better for credit scores. If interest and fees keep piling onto a past-due credit card, your balance may creep closer to your limit and raise your utilization rate.
The sooner you bring an account current, the better it is for your credit. Catching up won’t undo a delinquency that’s already been reported, but it can help you rebuild a positive payment history and raise your credit scores over time.
How do I remove a delinquency from my credit reports?
In most cases, you can’t simply remove an accurate delinquency. It’ll generally fall off your credit reports on its own about seven years after the original delinquency date.
That said, if a delinquency on your report is inaccurate, you have the right to dispute the error with the credit bureau. Examples include …
- A late payment you actually made on time
- An account you don’t recognize
- A delinquency that should have aged off your reports after seven years but is still showing up
FAST FACTS
Can a debt collector restart the clock on old debt?
Even if your debt is sold to a collection agency, the seven-year clock still runs from the original delinquency date with the first creditor. If you see a collection account with a more recent date that seems to extend how long a delinquency stays on your reports, you have the right to dispute it with the credit bureaus.
What’s next? Checking your credit reports
Reviewing your credit reports routinely can help you confirm that any delinquent accounts you’ve paid off have been recorded correctly. It can also help you spot delinquencies you weren’t aware of and catch errors that don’t belong there.
You can check your Equifax and TransUnion credit reports, along with your VantageScore 3.0 credit scores from those bureaus, through Credit Karma for free. The government-authorized website annualcreditreport.com also provides free weekly credit reports from each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. It’s a good idea to review your reports all three since they don’t always contain identical information.
FAQs about delinquent accounts
Yes, you should generally pay off a delinquent account if possible. It won’t remove the delinquency from your credit reports, but it can stop additional late payments, fees and interest from adding up. Paying off your debt before it’s charged off and sent to collections could also allow you to avoid future issues with debt collectors.
No. You can’t be arrested or jailed simply for owing credit card debt. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act bars debt collectors from threatening you with arrest. That said, ignoring a lawsuit or disobeying a related court order could create separate legal problems.
Not right away. A delinquency generally stays on your credit reports for seven years from the original delinquency date, even after you pay the balance. Paying it off updates the account’s status to reflect that it’s been settled and could prevent further credit score damage, but it doesn’t erase the late-payment history.
If you can’t pay, the account may eventually be charged off and sent to collections. A collection account can further harm your credit, and the collection agency may also opt to sue you for payment. If you’re worried about defaulting on a loan or credit card, consider contacting your lender about hardship options or a payment plan.