It's unlikely that you've intentionally come to a situation where you're missing a mortgage payment. You might have missed your due date accidentally, or you could be facing financial challenges.

There can be serious consequences that come with a missed mortgage payment, though.

If you're just a few days late, you can still make the payment. After just a few days late, it’s unlikely that it will negatlively affect your credit score. Mortgage lenders usually have a 15-day grace period on late payments, but you might have to pay fees.

There's not necessarily anything wrong with making your payment within your grace period, but you want to ensure you're not cutting it so close that you run the risk of being late.

After you've gone past 30 days with your payment being late or you missed the payment altogether, your lender will report the late or missed payment to credit bureaus. This is inevitably going to lead to a drop in your score. Your payment history accounts for around 35% of your credit score, so it's a prominent factor.

If your payment goes past 45 days late, your lender will probably assign someone to your account to contact you about payment help. When you reach 60 days with the payment past-due, you'll likely have another late fee added, and your credit score will probably be affected again because the lender will report it as another late or missed payment.

The late fee on a home loan is usually applied to the principal and interest, with the amount of the fee depending on your loan.

After your payment is 90 days late, the lender is going to send a demand letter. This is a notice that your payments are late, and unless you make up for the missed ones and get current, the lender may start the proceedings for foreclosure.

If you don't notify your lender about your situation or talk to them about an arrangement before missing a payment, the situation can lead to foreclosure. The notice of default you might receive is considered the first stage of foreclosure, which doesn't mean the foreclosure is definite. If you get a notice of default, even with three or more missed payments, you might still be able to fix the situation with your lender.

It's usually once you've reached 120 days without a payment where a lender actually schedules a foreclosure sale.

Rather than missing a payment, if you can help at all, it's better to be proactive and contact your lender. Lenders are in favor of working with borrowers whenever possible, because it's better for them than going through the foreclosure process.

The key takeaway is that having one late mortgage payment can seriously affect your credit score, especially if you have a high one currently. Additionally, you might end up with late fees, and after 90 days of delinquency on your mortgage, your lender will start the foreclosure process. Your credit will be more significantly impacted the longer you go without paying.