DEAR BRUCE: My daughter is 36. She and her spouse always had credit scores above 800. She applied to have her mortgage refinanced in January. The mortgage company used all three credit bureaus. Her scores were 692, 714, and 695. His was 692, 714, and 835. There was a Discover bill for $12.87 that was reported as a serious delinquency. She hadn't used her card for more than two years, and when she did, she paid the balance monthly. She finally talked to someone from Discover. They said it started as a $2.99 payment protection plan that she agreed to over the phone. She did not need this since she paid the balance monthly. She had moved to a different city in 2006. Discover started sending her bills for this $2.99 in 2008. Since the post office will only forward mail for one year, she never received the bills and Discover never tried to contact her. I think this is terrible that a company can cost someone 140 points on their credit report over a $2.99 bill that she never received. What would you recommend that she do? -- Reader via e-mail
DEAR READER: I agree with you that the whole system that FICO uses is absurd. Unfortunately, computers don't have any brains, they only know what's put in and put out. The $2.99 charge is going to compound until a human is brought into the loop. Further, you say that she didn't use her card, but apparently, she did not notify Discover that she did move even though she had an active card. Be that as it may, I think it can be worked out with Discover to notify the credit reporting agencies that this was a computer error and it should be deleted from her files. Unless she is intending to apply for credit immediately, I don't see where she has much to concern herself with.
DEAR BRUCE: I have a very dear friend in California who is dealing with a big mess. She has not filed income tax returns for several years, and we are afraid it is going to come back to haunt her. During the time she has not filed, she has had enough income to require her to file. She is not experienced in any way about financial matters and took the path of "If I ignore it, it will go away." I don't know what advice to give her other than to seek the assistance of a tax professional, as they should know the rules and regulations pertaining to these types of matters. Is there a way to tell that a person or organization is well-qualified to perform this type of work for her? I am not sure if just having the title of CPA is reassurance enough. She wants to do the right thing and become current on her tax liability, she just does not want to make things worse. -- J.S. from Lincoln, Neb.