Action: Delinquent account a surprise

Needless to say, I'm quite upset after struggling to pay all the other debts, never missing a payment and always paying ahead of time, as my credit report reflects. I am 55 and the stress is causing health problems. What can I do? I have written to Equifax, Experian and Wards, but I have a feeling it will be to no avail. Sherry Knox

Response: Oh my, what a mess! It will take some effort on your part, but there are things you can do to try to straighten this out. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, you have the right to dispute the information on your report. Apparently you have already done so by writing to Equifax, Experian (we would also add the third major credit bureau, Trans Union) and Wards. Given that Montgomery Ward is now in bankruptcy proceedings, getting information from it may prove difficult. In addition, if your husband's account was sold to a collection agency, which appears from your report to have been the case, it is possible that Wards does not even have the information any more.

You should also write to the company that furnished the information to the credit bureau, apparently a collection agency, whose address is on your credit report. Assuming you were never contacted by either Wards or the collection agency attempting to collect the debt, mention this in your letter. Also, do you have any proof that your husband left you? A tax return filed from a different address, utility accounts in his name at a different address, notarized statements from people who knew your situation, anything that would bolster your claim that he left? Include any such information with your letters of dispute.

Once you file a dispute with the credit bureaus and the company that furnished the information, they are legally obligated to investigate your dispute. If the dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction, you have a right to add a summary explanation to your credit report. We are sending you a copy of the Federal Trade Commission brochure, Building a Better Credit Record, that we downloaded from the Internet. It includes a sample letter for disputing information on your credit report.

This information is too late for you now, but there may be other readers who can benefit. Divorce and separation can create a host of problems, including those which can ultimately affect the credit of either party. In the event of a divorce or separation, pay close attention to the status of your credit accounts, particularly if you maintain joint accounts. As long as there is an outstanding balance on a joint account, both are responsible for it.

Closing joint accounts or accounts in which the spouse was an authorized user, or converting them to individual accounts, can be one way to prevent nasty surprises. In your case, of course, you didn't even know about this account. If it was reported to the credit bureaus at the time he started defaulting on the payments, you could have more easily dealt with the situation then. Which brings us to the general advice to periodically check your credit report. The $8.50 fee per report can be money well spent if it enables you to detect inaccuracies when they are easier to correct. However, if you are turned down for credit based on information in your report, you are entitled to a free copy.

There are three major credit bureaus: Experian, toll-free 1-888-397-3742; Equifax, toll-free 1-800-685-1111; and Trans Union, toll-free 1-800-916-8800. Note that in some cases, you will be referred to an affiliate consumer reporting agency. Call for instructions.

The Federal Trade Commission publishes a number of brochures on credit and other consumer issues. To order copies, call the Consumer Response Center at its toll-free number 1-877-382-4357 (FTC-HELP). The information is also available on its Web site: http://www.ftc.gov.

Bill corrected

Reader's Digest has sent me three bills since December. I already paid this bill. It was for a special the magazine had in December for new subscribers. I have taken the magazine for 25 years, so I renewed my own subscription and sent the other to my daughter. I have written three times and sent copies of the canceled checks for $23.82 and $3.14 respectively. I hope you can help me. Louise Wilson

Response: Cindy Vedovato, customer care associate with Reader's Digest in Pleasantville, N.Y., apologized for the difficulty you experienced in trying to resolve this problem. She said that the magazine's records show that your check for $23.82 was entered as a gift subscription for your daughter. Your payment of $3.14 was applied to your own magazine renewal of $26.96, hence the bills of $23.82 for the balance. Since there had been a special offer, that balance has now been marked paid in full. Should you receive another bill, Vedovato said to ignore it. If you have any further questions, you can call the customer service department toll-free at 1-800-234-9000

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Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your own attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, (800) 333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.

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