How will this appear on my credit report?

Basically, for no apparent reason that was stated, HSBC raised my apr on a $7,300 balance from 12.9% to 26.99% They claim I was sent an "opt-out" notice in the mail, and when I stated I never received it, they said they had no proof that I never received it, and I said I had no proof that they ever mailed it. Basically, no matter how many times I turned the tables on them and got silence out of them because I brought up points they just couldn't refute, they still refused to lower the APR on the account.

I am asking for some advice and information because I have never, ever gone late with a creditor before, so I have no idea exactly how it works or what it looks like on a credit report. Bottom line is, I *cannot* pay the monthly minimum now on this account, and still pay all my other creditors, so I am seriously debating just stopping paying on this card and face whatever comes.

Okay, so if I stop paying this account, how does it go? I know they will raise the APR even more and tack on late fees, and I will of course start getting calls, but will they report to the bureaus when I am 30 days late? Again when I am 60? 90? 120?

Will they try to settle with me before it gets charged off or sold to a debt collector? If they settle with me and I pay off the account and then close/cancel the account, how will my report look then? Will I still have all those lates/delinquents on there? A friend told me that those would no longer be there, and it would only show that account as "paid in full" or something instead.

How long do negatives for late payments stay on your credit report? If you settle with the creditor and pay the account off, will those lates drop off your report?

I want to know as much as possible before I choose to make this decision. I can afford to pay my other creditors and I am on time with all the others, so bankruptcy nor debt settlement is an option at this point. I feel like this is the only option HSBC has left me with.

Anyone, please, I appreciate your responses!!!

Normally they insert those notices with your statement. I used to throw them away but now I keep everything so I can go back and research if they throw something like that at me. Universal default clauses suck. Doesn't sound like you were late on anything else. Did your utilization ratio ever exceed 35% (total credit in relation to total balances)? That sometimes will trigger the UD during monthly account reviews. HSBC pulls an AR on me monthly.

As far as reporting, I don't believe any of the CRA report a credit limit, they just show a "high credit" notation. Did they lower your credit limit also? If they lowered it to the balance, then your utilization ratio will be affected.

I was never late with any of my creditors, and I have had that card with HSBC for 2 years and have never been late or gone over the limit with it.

The balance is extremely high. The balance is $7,300 with a limit of $7,500. They haven't lowered my limit, but I've been carrying a balance over $7,000 on it for the past 2 years because every time I paid some of it down, I just used it again, and the entire time my apr never changed. I haven't used the card since last April, which was when I decided to stop using my cards altogether and start to get control of my money again and start paying down debt.

That's why I cannot stress enough. Always save the little slick pages they send with your monthly statement. Pitch the little ads they throw in but if you see anything that changes the cardholder agreement, staple it to your statement and file it forever. My wife in I almost got into a knowck down drag out over this because once she paid the bill she would even throw the statement away.

ANyway, pull you reports from each CRA individually and look at the soft inquiries. See how many times HSBC has done a AR. Then I would start writing letters to the CEO, CFO office of Corp Counsel. Call the Major TV networks. Become a pain in their a$$. It might not get your rate lowered but if you raise enough stink, you will get noticed.