If you’re lucky, the lender won’t report that you were late. “The
first thing to note is that most lenders do not report missed payments
until the account is 30+ days past due,” says Anthony Sprauve, director
of public relations for MyFico.com. “Suppose a given credit card payment
is due on May 15th (and) the payment is made on May 25th. Technically
the payment is late, and fees and interest charges may apply. But in
most cases, this late payment would not be reported by the creditor to
the credit reporting agencies (CRAs).”
Or it’s possible your lender may overlook for the transgression.
Steve Ely, president of eCredable.com, adds: “The larger creditors (like
credit card companies) usually have sophisticated analytic models
working behind the scenes that take into account your history of
payments. If you’ve been paying on time for a long time, they’re likely
to forgive your one late payment, and let it slide.”