Both the Federal Truth in Lending Act and the Fair Credit Billing Act offer some consumer protections. But you need to pay attention to the limitations and your own responsibilities.
Here are some of the protections and restrictions:
Theft or loss: The Federal Truth in Lending Act protects you if your credit card is lost or stolen. Even if you fail to report it right away, your maximum liability is $50. But realize that a debit card and a credit card have different rules, even though they look alike.
Even though a thief will say “credit” at the register in order to avoid entering a PIN, the theft of a debit card must be reported within 2 business days or you’re liable. So keep track of that debit card. If you don’t notice it’s gone until after 2 days have passed, a thief can empty your bank account and you’ll have no means of getting the money back.
Billing “Errors” can be accidental or intentional.
You may have ordered from a company and your package was lost in transit, a computer may have stuttered and entered a charge twice, someone could have forgotten to give you a credit for goods returned – or, unfortunately, you may have ordered from a bogus company that never intended to ship the goods.
The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute these “errors,” and to have your dispute taken seriously. So whatever the reason for the error, you can probably get the charges reversed, but only if you act quickly. You must send a dispute letter within 60 days of the charge appearing on your monthly credit card statement. Then the card issuer has 90 days to follow up with an investigation.
This is one reason why using a credit card when ordering from an “unknown” company is far safer than sending a check or money order.
When you contact your credit card issuer, be sure to include all the information. Your name, address, and account number; a complete description of the charge in question; and the reason why you dispute the charge.
You aren’t obligated to pay for a disputed charge unless the card issuer determines that it is valid, but if you have other charges on the same statement, be sure to pay at least the minimum.
Otherwise, someone else’s mistake will show up as a reduction in your credit score!
Author:Marte Cliff
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