Expert: Chris Ebert - 1/27/2010

Question
Early in the fall of 2009 my husband and I used our home depot credit card for the first time, to purchase an item that was less than $200.  We had planned to pay it off in a month or two.  After about four months we had not received a bill.  I called to get information about our bill and that they have been sending the bill to an address in Sherman, TX, in which, we have not lived in 2 1/2 years.  We have lived in Melissa, TX for 2 years now.  There are lots of late fees on the bill.  I have still not seen a bill so I don’t know how much we might owe.  They said that they could only remove one late fee because only 1 of 5 bills have been returned to them.  They also told I needed to dispute the bill with the post master in Sherman, TX.
 I called the post office and they told me I need to dispute it with Home Depot.  What do we do now?


Answer
Tia,

This is a common problem. I am not sure what you would go to the Postmaster to dispute. I think that the issue is with Home Depot. Within most credit card agreements you agreed to keep them up to date on your address. It appears that you may not have done that. Also, whether or not you received a bill you agreed to pay on time.

At this point I would work with Home Depot before it goes to charge off. Charge off happens 6 months from the date of delinquency. If you are ubnsatified with the settlement, I would encourage you to pay what you do agree with and then go up the chain of command to dispute the rest.

Chris Ebert
http://www.henleycreditlaw.com