 TITLE: What Happens If I Don’t Pay a Deficiency Balance? CONTENT: How Does a Deficiency Balance Affect Your Credit Score?\n-------------------------------------------------------\nOwing a deficiency balance doesn't directly affect your scores, but the circumstances leading up to the deficiency may have a severe negative impact. Here are some credit activities that hurt your scores:\n*   **Delinquent loan payments**: Your debt payment history is the biggest factor in calculating your credit scores, so when you miss an auto loan payment or a mortgage payment, your scores take a big hit.\n*   **Loan default**: Your credit scores take an additional hit when your loan enters default, which can happen once you're anywhere from 30 to 90 days late, or later.\n*   **Repossession**: Vehicle repossession has a serious negative impact on your scores, and stays on your credit file for seven years from the date you stop paying your loan.\n*   **Voluntary surrender**: Even if you voluntarily return your car to your lender, your credit scores will be impacted, but the hit may be slightly less severe than a repossession.\n*   **Collections**: If your deficiency balance is sent to collections, you'll experience another drop in your scores and the collections account will stay on your reports for seven years from the date you originally fell behind on your debt payment. END