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

Many consumers find it difficult to keep up with their bills.

To that point, 37% of Americans have been charged a late fee on a bill in the past 12 months, according to a new report from NerdWallet.

Credit card late fees were the most common, with 21% of respondents experiencing at least one. Others were charged late for utility bills, 10%, and rent, 8%. NerdWallet surveyed 2,061 US adults in early April.

“Late fees are just one consequence of making late payments,” said Sara Rathner, a travel and credit card expert at NerdWallet.

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While you can be assessed a late fee 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, said Matt Schulz, chief executive. credit analyst at LendingTree.

And if you’re 30 days or more late, that’s when it starts to get more serious, experts say. Falling behind on payments can also bring more serious consequences, such as shutting off utilities. Some consequences can also be immediate, such as car repossession.

“If you know you’re going through a tough financial time, it’s definitely better to address it head-on and not wait,” Schulz said.

Here’s how to limit the impact of late fees and work with creditors if certain life events, such as a layoff or financial hardship, are affecting your ability to pay.

If you’re starting to fall behind on regular monthly payments or anticipate falling behind, it’s best to “talk to your creditors directly before you run into trouble,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

“That’s when you have the most options. The further back you go, the fewer options there are,” he said.

Communicating your problem as soon as possible can help. If your bill is 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 in advance, you have more flexibility to explain your situation and negotiate a solution, he said.

“Anytime you can go into one of these situations and offer a solution … it can go a long way in making the conversation go a lot better,” Schulz said.

Cardholders can ask their card company to waive a late fee the first time they miss a payment, Schulz wrote in his book, Ask Questions, Save Money, Do More: How to Get control of your financial life”.

But keep in mind that “the more often it happens, the less likely the lender will offer a waiver,” McBride said.

If you’ve been late once and there’s a good chance you’ll be late again soon because of a financial problem, let the lender know, Schulz said.

“It’s one thing to go to the lender every other month and say, ‘Hey, I’m late on this, can you waive it?’ It’s another thing entirely to say, ‘Hey, I’m late because I have this emergency. medical or I lost my job,’ he said.

If you find that your payments are becoming more difficult to meet due to an unexpected life event, such as being laid off from work, most lenders offer hardship programs, which temporarily lower interest rates and waive fees, Schulz wrote in his book.

While the details may vary, “the point 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 the problem and just fall further and further behind, it just further limits your options,” he said.

Even one late payment can make a significant dent in your credit score; can lower your score by up to 100 points, depending on other elements of your credit history.

If you’ve made a mistake once, you can contact your lender and ask to have the late payment removed from your credit report, experts say. While it is possible in certain circumstances, lenders are generally not fans of the tactic because it makes the data unreliable for future loan transactions.

“Your credit report is just a collection of a series of data points that represent how well you’re paying your debts,” Schulz said. If lenders start to “cherry pick” what happens in the report, the data becomes unreliable and does not help lenders make decisions.

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

Although it’s rare, if you’re in an unusual situation and otherwise have an “unblemished record,” you can go to the lender and explain what happened. For example: if you’ve been paying late because of a natural disaster, it’s okay to ask.

“Strange circumstances in life happen to everyone,” he said.