Days Past Due (DPD) is a key financial metric showing how long a payment on a loan or credit account has been overdue. It begins counting the day after your payment due date passes without receiving payment. For instance, if a payment is due on the 1st of the month and unpaid, by the 2nd you are 1 DPD, by the 15th, 14 DPD, and so forth.
Credit bureaus typically receive DPD information from lenders once the payment is 30 days late, marking the first major negative entry on a credit report. These delinquencies escalate in severity—reported at 30, 60, 90 days past due, etc.—each negatively affecting your credit score further. According to Experian, payment history including DPD accounts for about 35% of your FICO® Score, making it the largest single factor in credit scoring.
Here’s what lenders and credit bureaus generally do at each DPD stage:
• 1–29 Days Past Due: Payment is late but not reported to credit bureaus. Lenders may charge late fees or penalty interest and send reminders.
• 30 Days Past Due: Lenders report the delinquency to credit bureaus, resulting in a “30 DPD” notation that can substantially lower your credit score.
• 60 Days Past Due: Continued nonpayment leads to a worse status on your credit report and further credit score damage.
• 90 Days Past Due and Beyond: Delinquency is serious, may result in account closure, legal action, or debt sale to collections agencies.
• Charge-Off (typically after 180 days): Lender writes off the debt as a loss and may pursue collectors. This is a very negative mark remaining on credit reports for up to seven years as confirmed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
To protect your credit, it’s essential to pay overdue balances promptly and communicate with lenders. You might negotiate hardship arrangements or request goodwill adjustments for late payments, especially if your overall payment history is strong. Setting up automatic payments can help avoid future DPD occurrences.
For more on payment history and how it ties into credit scoring, see our article on Payment History. To understand more about your credit score and its components, visit our Credit Score page. You can also explore how your credit report reflects payment data in our Credit Report article.
For official guidance on how late payments affect credit, you can refer to the CFPB resource on How Long Negative Information Stays on Your Credit Report.
