What does 'Past Due' mean

Past due is a loan payment that has not been made as of its due date. A borrower who is past due may be subject to late fees, unless the borrower is still within a grace period. Failure to repay a loan on time could have negative implications for the borrower's credit status or cause the loan terms to be permanently adjusted.

Explaining 'Past Due'

If a loan payment is due by the 10th of the month and is not paid by the 11th, the payment will be considered past due. Depending on the policy of the lender, the borrower will either immediately be charged a late fee or will enter a grace period. If, for example, there is a grace period of 10 days, the borrower would not be charged a late fee until the 21st of the month. If the payment is still not made by the end of the grace period, late fees will then be applied.

How a customer is treated on a past-due payment will often come down to their payment history; if there is a pattern of late payments, the grace period may be shortened or removed.

---

Further Reading

---

---