Dear Dr. Don,
My husband and I paid off a credit card two months ago but started getting collection calls last week saying we hadn't paid in two months. That's true, but only because we had no balance! I called the credit card company and asked for our balance and said I would pay it off. They confirmed that the balance is zero. What should I do about this zombie debt? The debt collectors are very rude.

Also when I called, the company said I wasn't liable for my husband's debt anyway, so I didn't need to worry. I will worry, because he's my husband. But is this true?

Dear Zom,
What a nightmare! You did all the right things. Now, let's work on stopping the madness. It's easy enough to get the debt collectors to stop calling. Just write them a letter telling them to stop, and you will get no more calls. The Federal Trade Commission offers a guide called "Fair Debt Collection" that explains the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in easy-to-understand terms. The following is an excerpt from that guide:

You can stop a debt collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the collector telling them to stop. Once the collector receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact or to notify you that the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action. Please note, however, that sending such a letter to a collector does not make the debt go away if you actually owe it. You could still be sued by the debt collector or your original creditor.

If he hasn't pulled his credit reports this year, he should take the time now to do so. The Bankrate feature, "How to get your free credit report," tells him how.

By the way, I love it when readers write in and have thought up their own alias!

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