Have you ever made a late payment? It happens to the best of us; you get caught up with life and accidentally miss the due date or an unexpected expense comes up making this month’s money tight and you make your payment a few weeks late. Now you want to know how long a late payment will stay on your credit report and how it will impact your

credit ratings.

A recent Equifax Finance blog article, “

FAQ: How Long Do Late Payments Stay On My Credit Report” answers these questions.

Negative information on your report like late payments generally stay on your report for seven years. Bankruptcies usually stay on your report for 10 years. Positive information (like on-time or early payments) can stay on your report forever, explains the article.  The information in your report does not come from credit reporting agencies but instead from information reported to credit agencies by lenders and collection agencies. If you are concerned about something that might be on your credit report, check your report to confirm that all of the information is accurate.

Check out the Equifax Finance blog to get more answers to your credit questions, as well as finance, identity theft insurance, real estate, taxes and more.