I have a situation where an account is joint ownership, but both have separate debit cards on the same account. One of them is disputing charges as unauthorized but states that it's possible the spouse took the card and made purchases without the others knowledge. Would you consider this a Reg E claim?

And the two of them don't communicate with one another?

I hate to say this, but Regulation E doesn't address this possibility. My temptation (and yours, I image) would be to inform the consumer that you'll be happy to take the claim after s(he) has verified the transaction was not authorized by the other cardholder.

Out of all my Reg E training, I've never had to deal with this scenario before so I don't really know how to handle it.

Seems I left out a key point - they are "going through a divorce" she says but is that a true statement in an attempt to just get her money back? I don't know.

So would I be safe to say she has no claim because it is a joint account? He has access to the funds.

On a joint account, it doesn't matter who used who's card. They both have equal access to the funds. She doesn't get her money back if he used her card any more than she would if he took a book of checks out of her purse.

If the claim is that someone else is responsible for the transactions then you have a claim to investigate.

Thanks John - Thanks Brian

I'm in agreement with Brian (as is usually the case). If the claim says "neither the co-owner nor I authorized this transaction," it's a claim you have to process.

And when John is not in agreement with me, I accept the fact that I am wrong and move on.