One missed mortgage payment might cause a lender to not offer you a renewal, writes Robert McLister. Photo by Getty Images/iStockphoto

A single missed mortgage payment may not feel like a five-alarm fire, but for your credit report, it’s arson.

Missed mortgage payments can torch thousands of your hard-earned dollars, and it all starts with one slip-up. People get over-extended, miss a credit card payment, and the one missed payment leads to multiple missed payments, and next thing you know, someone’s committing financial blasphemy by ghosting their mortgage lender.

Data from Equifax Canada show how fast things unravel for some people. More than 29 per cent of mortgagors who were 30 days past due in one month went on to be 60 days past due the next month. Once you get to 90 days in

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