<prompt> Human: In November of 2015 I opened a Target CC. I bought a couple things but wound up returning them all or so I thought. There was a 10 item that I wound up keeping. Long story short, I didnt pay that 10. Now theres a 190 worth of late fees and penalties. I tried talking to Target to get that figure reduced, but after calling three times and talking to someone who claimed to be a manager but still stuck to their very rigorous script, they refused to reverse the charges. I paid the 190 because I didnt want this to remain outstanding. However, my credit score went from about 740 to 605 as a result of this late payment. Im looking to buy a house in the next year or two. Is there anyway to fight this? I would completely understand a huge drop if there were hundreds of dollars that I hadnt paid, but for 10!?!? Id even be open to hiring a lawyer because the money is less of an issue, its much more about being able to secure my financial future. Thanks!  <response>: I dont have much advice to offer. This is your mistake - you didnt pay something you agreed to pay. You didnt check the account for many, many months. You didnt set your preferences to send you an e-statement, or you didnt read your mail. Im not sure how it happened.They accurately reported the missing payments. What youre experiencing is what would be expected from every single credit card bank. They really dont mess around with late payments. If youre late and they dont typically report until youre 30 days late, they report it to the credit bureau, and its too late to do anything. Some collections agencies can be persuaded to delete late payments from your report in return for payment, but theyre technically not allowed to, and credit card companies will not do this At most, these credit card companies might refund you one late payment fee definitely not five, or however many youve accrued out of good will - and probably once per a lifetime.I am a little sympathetic though - it seems this is probably one of your first cards - its a tough lesson to learn the first time. But hopefully you will learn to keep very close track of your credit cards.But responding to those who are incredulous at the drop:This isnt just any late payment - this is a serious delinquency numerous late payments - the account was late by over 90 days. These delinquencies are treated differently from delinquencies under 90 days. Non-serious delinquencies under 90 days drop off your credit report after 2 years.Serious delinquencies drop your score drastically they place you in a derogatory scoring bucket and stay on your credit report for 7 years. Over time the impact of this delinquency will diminish gradually. Its just a waiting game. 