DEPT. OF EVIL GENIUS Credit where credit's doo-doo BY CATHERINE TUMBER

Have credit-card troubles swept over you in recent years — seemingly out of nowhere, like a bat? Perhaps you’ve been paying off your minimum in good faith, only to find your balance climbing astronomically. Or maybe you’re regularly slapped with huge late fees, though you could swear you’ve been sending in your checks on time. You may have been seduced by a "0% financing" solicitation, only to find that before long you’re paying 29 percent. Or perhaps you’re a victim of that charming little device known as "universal default," which allows a credit-card company to jack up your interest if you’re late paying another debt, say, your phone bill. It’s enough to make you want to go out and engage in a little retail therapy.

As it turns out, help may be on the way from a most unlikely corner: the Federal Reserve Board, and they want to hear from you.

You probably didn’t know it, but your credit-card company must abide by rules set by the Fed’s "Regulation Z." It sounds like something out of The Manchurian Candidate, and it’s almost that old. Established in 1969 to implement the Truth in Lending Act, which was designed to protect borrowers from deceptive practices, Regulation Z hasn’t had a major overhaul since 1982. 1982! In that time, the banks have been deregulated, and financial institutions have won a slew of victories in the courts. Lenders now have much greater freedom to charge high interest and draconian late fees, to merge their various businesses to form bloated monstrosities, and to whittle away the authority of individual states to regulate banks within their borders. Over the past 22 years, there’s been a revolution in the way financial institutions are run, and Regulation Z has been just sitting around playing video games. With a few notable, if ineffectual, exceptions, so has Congress. (When, oh when, will the Democrats figure out that economic populism should be at the moral center of the party?)

Take matters into your own hands, and write to the Federal Reserve. Tell them how shadowy credit-card-company practices are making it difficult to stay out of debt, and what you’d like to see changed. On the Fed’s Web site, you can read what others have written. One woman begins her communication with "I am outraged by the deceitful practices of the credit card industry," and concludes with "Do something before this country is ruined by this industry." If you think the industry is doing a fine job, we suppose you could tell them that, too. If you insist.

Go to www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm. Click on "Proposals for Comment" and scroll down to "Regulation Z — Truth in Lending [R-1217]." There you can both type a note and read other people’s thoughts. You also can e-mail regs.comments@ federalreserve.gov; be sure to include "Truth in Lending [R-1217]" in the subject line. And while you’re at it, why not send a copy to your congressional reps? Deadline is March 28.