If you’ve ever discovered that someone billed your credit card account for something that you didn’t order, the bad news is that you may have a little work to do to clear it up, but the good news is that at least you checked your monthly statement and you caught the problem. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) protects consumers from unfair and fraudulent charges on “open end” credit accounts, such as credit cards, and revolving charge accounts, such as retail store accounts. The law does not apply to debit cards or more traditional loans.

The FCBA gives you the right to dispute credit card charges that are incorrect; charges that you didn’t authorize; charges for goods or services that you didn’t receive or accept; and charges for goods or services that were not delivered as agreed or as promised (disputes about the quality of goods and services are not considered billing errors). You also have the right to dispute a failure to post payments and other credits (such as returns), and a failure to send bills to your current address.

Always check your monthly credit card and debit card statements, and dispute unauthorized or fraudulent charges as soon as possible.

Disputing an unauthorized credit card charge or billing error:
• Report the disputed charge immediately to your card issuer, especially if the issuer operates a 24-hour customer service number.
• Even if you reported the incident by phone or via the Internet, send a letter to the creditor (send it to the address for billing inquiries, not the payment processing address). Include your account number, your full name, mailing address, a description of your dispute and copies of relevant receipts or documentation. Make a copy of your letter. Save that copy and your original receipts and documents.
• Send your letter via certified mail, and request a return receipt. Make sure that the creditor receives your letter within 60 days after the first bill that included the unauthorized charge was mailed to you.
• Continue paying for any other charges on your bill that you don’t dispute (including finance charges on the undisputed amount), but you may withhold payment on the disputed charge and other charges related to the disputed amount.
• The creditor must acknowledge your complaint in writing within 30 days after receiving it. The creditor must resolve the dispute within two billing cycles of receiving your letter, or within 90 days.
• During the dispute, the creditor may not threaten your credit rating, report you as delinquent, or take legal or collection action against you.
• If there’s an error, the creditor must explain the error and remedy in writing, credit your account, and remove any fees or charges related to the error. If the creditor agrees the charge was unauthorized, you won’t have to pay more than $50.
• If there’s not an error, the creditor must explain it in writing. You will be responsible for the disputed charge, plus any finance charges. However, you still may file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office about the charge.

“Free trial” offers
Many “free trial” offers result in ongoing charges on your credit card bills because you didn’t realize that you had to cancel the offer within a certain number of days. And, in many cases, you may not have explicitly approved the charges or even provided a credit card number, which may have come from another company with which you did business.

If you discover you’re being charged for something you didn’t authorize, contact the company directly and ask that they remove any charges. Follow up with your credit card company to dispute the charges or to ensure that they’re removed.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department has released additional details about a chase that occurred Wednesday afternoon. Sheriff Joe Sampson said just before 4-p.m., a Montgomery County Deputy attempted to stop a vehicle that had run a stop sign at the intersection of 110th Street and D Avenue, but the suspect, later identified as 32-year old Jacob Cochran, of Council Bluffs (and formerly of Red Oak), began to flee.

The pursuit made its way throughout the northern portion of Montgomery County and lasted for about 50-minutes. Along the way Cochran made moves inside the vehicle that the pursuing deputy thought might have been an attempt to reach for a weapon. Just before the chase ended, an Iowa State Patrol Trooper laid down stop sticks, which Cochran’s vehicle ran over. The tires deflated and Cochran lost control of the vehicle in the 1100 block of F Avenue. After the vehicle entered a corn field it became disabled.

Cochran attempted to flee on foot but was captured immediately. Sheriff Sampson said a search of the vehicle revealed no weapon. He says Cochran faces charges that include eluding, along with numerous traffic violations. Cochran remained in the Montgomery County Jail, pending a court appearance.

Sheriff’s officials thank these law enforcement agencies for helping or offering to help in the apprehension of Cochran: The Montgomery County K-9 Unit; Red Oak Police Department; the Page, Cass, Pottawattamie and Mills County Sheriff’s Departments, and the Iowa State Patrol.

An Atlantic man was arrested Wednesday on multiple warrants issued out of six Iowa counties. The Atlantic Police Department reports 54-year old Timothy Campbell was wanted in Davis, Calhoun, Cedar and Jasper Counties, for Theft in the 2nd degree. He was also wanted in Hancock County for Failure to Appear on 2nd degree Theft charges, and in Polk County on warrants for 2nd and 3rd degree Theft. Campbell was being held in the Cass County Jail on behalf of those law enforcement agencies.

The A-PD reports also the arrest on Wednesday of 51-year old Milton Milligan of Atlantic. He was taken into custody on a Cass County warrant for Delivery of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine.  And, 34-year old Shannon Wojciechowshi, of Atlantic, was arrested Wednesday on a Cass County warrant for Theft in the 5th degree. Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

The Atlantic Area Chamber Ambassadors visited Atlantic Locker Service recently, to learn more about the services and products being offered to Atlantic Area customers and state wide customers. “We ship locally raised beef and pork all over the United States, Chicago, Colorado, all over,” owner/operator Dale Haupert said. Their best sellers include jerky, Windsor chops and specialty cheeses from Wisconsin.

Pictured:
Lana Westphalen, Sue Muri, Jan Myers, Cheri Hunt, Patty Maas, Haley Kickland, Janet Cappel, Dr. Keith Leonard, Rachael Johnson, Kevin Wieser, Arlene Drennan, Gerhard Marburg, Tammy Waters, Lucas Mosier, Melanie Petty, Josh Dvorak, Dave Schwab, Tyler Mosier, Bill Saluk, Jim Kickland, Renea Steffens, JoAnn Runyan, Doreen Ellsbury, Debbie Leistad, Darrell Hockenberry, Steve Andersen, Kathy Sweeney, Pat McCurdy, Gerald Brink, Russ Joyce, Sherri Sansgaard and Karl Aldag.

Atlantic Locker Service continues community outreach through the H.U.S.H Program (Help Us Stop Hungry). H.U.S.H is a cooperative effort among deer hunters, the Food Bank of Iowa, local meat lockers and the Iowa DNR. Atlantic Locker Service ranked 6th in the state of Iowa providing high quality meat to help feed the hungry. “Moving to a bigger location has allowed us to continue to serve the community well and to expand the business,“ Haupert said.