One night last week, I got home bright and early at 8:00 PM after a busy day of networking and loan applications. I opened my mail, and near about flipped. There on my credit card statement it said:

“11/xx Late Fee: $39.00”

People who know me well will tell you that I’m not a person who gets terribly angry, but after I read that, I have to admit that I didn’t really want to talk to anyone, and I certainly didn’t feel like addressing the problem.

So I did what a lot of people will do – I set it aside for a while.

Two days later, when I’d cooled down a little, I picked that statement back up, and I looked through my checkbook register for clues. Sure enough, 12 days before they hit me with that late fee, there was a check written out to the credit card company.

Knowing they weren’t out to get me, I picked up the phone and called, and 3 minutes later, my payment was up-to-date, and they had waived the late fee.

Seems pretty easy, huh? But millions of credit card owners each year don’t make this connection, and don’t make that call to their credit card company when something goes wrong. Success such as I had certainly isn’t a guarantee when calling your creditors, but it happens more often than you would think.

On-time payments are considered to be the most important factor in a good credit score, but almost just as important is communication. Communication is the key to keeping minor mishaps from becoming major problems. I said earlier that I set aside the credit card bill, but I picked it up 2 days later. Many who get into trouble with their bills forget that aspect, and find it harder and harder to catch up.

Remember – a 3-minute phone call can save you 3 years of interest payments!

Dan Hartman is a Senior Mortgage Advisor with Province Mortgage Associates, and an Adjunct Professor with the University of New Haven and Roger Williams University.