How to Survive a Credit Crisis, Part Three
In a financial crunch, some bills must be paid immediately, while others may wait. For some bills, smaller payments may satisfy the creditor until you get back on your feet. (I am assuming here that you want to try to pay all your bills and don’t want to sell the house or the car or any other asset that is secured by a loan.) Here are some guidelines for juggling your bills:
Bankcards: Major credit cards are valuable references on your credit report. If you are worried about keeping your credit rating intact, try to make sure they are paid on time. For the short term, don’t worry about making more than the minimum monthly payment. That’s all you need to pay to keep your credit record clean.
If you can’t make at least your minimum payments, watch out for stiff late fees. Some issuers will raise interest rates if you are late with one or more payments, and may also raise your interest rate substantially if you are late with a payment. I’ve even encountered issuers who will raise your interest rate if you are late on other bills listed on your credit report.
Department-Store Cards that appear on your credit record: Since balances on department-store cards are often fairly low, you can probably fit the minimum payments for these into your budget. If not, most department-store card issuers will be willing to accept lower payments for a few months.
Mortgage: Your mortgage may or may not appear on your credit report each month, but payment information will in most cases be reported to the bureaus if you become ninety days or more late on your payments. In addition, mortgages tend to carry hefty fees for late payments, and if you miss two or more payments your lender may initiate foreclosure proceedings. Your mortgage is an important billtry to pay it first.
Child Support: Paying child support is not only the “right” thing to do; it’s important as far as maintaining your credit history is concerned. By law, credit bureaus must report any information received about overdue child support, as long as it is verified by the proper agency and is not more than seven years old. Child-support payments that are late by any amount may be reported by a state child-support enforcement agency if it so chooses. A number of states are doing so.
Also, if you don’t pay your child support, you may find yourself the target of one of the increasing number of programs designed to crack down on what are usually called “deadbeat dads” (although there are a few deadbeat moms, too). If you don’t pay your child support, you could find your tax refund intercepted, your wages garnisheed, a lien placed on your property, your driver’s license suspended, or your picture may even be advertised on a “Most Wanted” list!
