Just sign here.('fine print' in advertising and contracts)(Memo To Members)

When I was Vermont's banking and insurance commissioner in the mid-1970s, I was appalled by the confusing language of insurance policies and spearheaded an effort to put them in plain English. I believe Vermont was the first state in the nation to approve a readable homeowner's policy. Later, when I served as Vermont secretary of state, my office rewrote licensing regulations into everyday English and required that public notices use large type. But fine print and legal gobbledygook are still driving consumers crazy, as you told us when we asked for your help with the report on page 15.

I UNDERSTAND, BUT I DON'T SEE

A newspaper advertisement for Voice-Stream cellular-phone service tested Lora Muckin's eyesight. The ad packed 246 words into a one-quarter-inch-high paragraph describing the plan. But she had no problem understanding the offer--once she used a magnifying glass.

And Laurier Lessard from Florida wrote, "Who can read this stuff, let alone decipher it?" He sent us a full page from a Sunday newspaper magazine section emblazoned with a promotion for McDonald's Monopoly game. On the flip side was a full page of official rules in 4.5-point type. That is print this big.

I SEE, BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND

"How many people really have a clue what this means?" asked reader Kendra Davis, from California, who enclosed a notice from her credit-card company: "Effective on March 1, 2001, your Cardmember Agreement will be changed to state that the variable rates for your Account will be calculated each month on the first business day of the month. On that day, we will see what the index rate for your Account (the 1 Month LIBOR Rate) was on the immediately preceding Determination Date as that rate and Date are defined in your Agreement."

The notice continues, "The index rate on the Determination Date will be used to calculate the Daily Periodic Rates on your Account and will apply to all billing cycles that end during the calendar month in which the calculation is made."