37% of Americans have paid a late fee in the past 12 months, the report finds

Late credit card payments were very common, with 21% of survey respondents having at least one. Others were charged late fees on service loans, 10%, and rent, 8%. NerdWallet surveyed 2,061 US adults in early April.

“Late fees are just one side effect of paying late,” said Sara Rathner, travel and credit card expert at NerdWallet.

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While you may be assessed a late charge as soon as you miss a payment on a credit card or loan, it usually doesn’t show up as a black mark on your credit report until you’re 30 days past due, Matt said. Schulz, head. credit analyst at LendingTree.

And if you’re 30 days or more late, that’s when it starts to get worse, experts say. Falling behind on payments can also have negative consequences, such as shutting down aid services. Some results can be immediate, too, like getting the car back.

“If you know you’re in financial trouble, it’s best to deal with it right away and not wait,” Schulz said.

Here’s how to minimize the impact of late payments and work with creditors if other life events, such as a layoff or financial crisis, affect your ability to pay.

If you start falling behind on regular monthly payments or expect to, it’s best to “talk directly to your creditors before you get into trouble,” said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst. at Bankrate.com.

“That’s when you have more options. The further you go, the less options there are,” he said.

Discussing your problem as soon as possible can help. If your bill is due on the last day of the month, don’t wait to contact your servicer the day before, said Schulz with LendingTree.

If you contact them early, you have an opportunity to explain your situation and negotiate a solution, he said.

“Any time you can step into one of these situations and offer a solution … that can go a long way in making the conversation go much better,” Schulz said.

Cardholders can ask their card company to waive late fees when they start defaulting, Schulz wrote in his book, “Ask Questions, Save Money, Do More: How to Take Control of Your Life of Finance.”

But keep in mind that “as long as that happens, there’s a slim chance” the lender will approve, McBride said.

If you’ve made one payment late and there’s a good chance you’ll be late again due to financial difficulties, let the lender know, Schulz said.

“It’s one thing to go to a lender every month and say, ‘Hey, I was late on this, can you waive that?’ It’s another thing to say, ‘Hey, I was late because I had this medical emergency or I lost work,'” he said.

If you find that your payments are struggling to meet due to an unexpected life event, such as being laid off from your job, many lenders offer hardship programs, which temporarily reduce interest and quit rates. , Schulz wrote in his book.

Although the details may vary, “the key is to participate” in those opportunities, as they are “designed to help you get back on your feet,” McBride explained.

“If you run away from a problem and fall further behind, it limits your options,” he said.

Even one late payment can damage your credit score; it can lower your score by up to 100 points, depending on other aspects of your credit history.

If you’ve made a one-time default, you can contact your lender and ask to have that late payment removed from your credit report, experts say. Although possible under certain circumstances, lenders generally do not support this tactic because it makes the data unreliable for future credit transactions.

“Your credit report is a collection of data that shows how well you’re paying off your debts,” Schulz said. If lenders start “picking” what happens on the report, the data becomes unreliable, and doesn’t help lenders make decisions.

“The primary customers of credit reports are not consumers; they are businesses,” said Schulz, as the reports are designed to help businesses make loan decisions.

Although it is rare, if you are in an unusual situation and otherwise have a “spotless history,” you can go to the lender and explain what happened. For example: if you paid late due to a natural disaster, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

“Life’s weird situations happen to everyone,” he said.