ALL ABOUT CREDIT CARD DELINQUENCY

What exactly is credit card delinquency?

Your account becomes delinquent when you do not make at the least the minimum credit card payment. Delinquency is separated into degrees that indicate how many payments have been missed.

For example, on the day after the first payment is missed, the cardholder is one day delinquent. After a second payment is missed, the account is 30 days delinquent, and so on.

By definition, your credit card account is delinquent after just one missed monthly payment. However, delinquency is usually not reported to the credit bureaus until after two payments in a row have been missed.

What are the effects of delinquency?

Being reported delinquent to the credit bureaus has a negative impact on credit scores. Your credit score can drop as much as 125 points with three consecutive missed payments. Once four payments have been missed, the impact on the credit score is more severe and the account is likely to be sent to collections. Legal action against the cardholder is a real possibility at this point.

What should you do if a collections company calls?

Is bankruptcy the only way out of delinquency?

Of course not. If you find yourself now able to pay your bills, making a single minimum payment will end the progression of the delinquency. After this, you should continue to make all of your payments on time.

If you are not able to pay your bills, it’s time to consult a bankruptcy attorney. Filing bankruptcy will stop all collection actions against you. It will give you a chance to start fresh. Give us a call today so we can help you with your delinquent accounts.